Hot Housing Trend - Downsizing

Downsizing is one seriously hot trend. More and more Australians are making the move to low-maintenance homes closer to city-fringe and lively suburbs. You can blame it on the baby-boomers sick of gardening, the young couples who love the hype of the city or IKEA, but whoever you blame this trend is sticking around.

What is downsizing?

Firstly no, it’s not like the TV shows about large families living in 25m2. Downsizing is choosing to move to an apartment, unit or terrace house rather than the traditional home with big backyard. This doesn’t necessarily mean living in a smaller space (some terrace homes are larger than many traditional houses!), but it does often mean a smaller price, better location and less maintenance.

What are the pros and cons?

Downsizing has way more ticks in the pros box. Low maintenance, typically conveniently located (two minute walk to the coffee shop – yes please!), and offer high-end lifestyle and location for less. This type of living is also highly popular among renters (including retirees, small families and couples), so if you ever want to move on, finding a tenant should be easy as pie.'

The trade-off is this – you may need to purge all those old mildew storage boxes and downsize some furniture if you opt for a smaller apartment or unit. You also need to consider that you may not have a backyard (or if you do, not a big one), but this isn’t the end of the world. Being so close to popular areas often means lots of nearby parks and playgrounds that you can take full advantage of.

Whether you look at it as a pro or con, downsizing also tends to promote more community living. Australia’s coast is a great example, with places like Glenelg Marina and Port Adelaide (South Australia) showcasing more and more apartments and units, so more beach lovers get to share those beautiful coastal views.