From McMansions in Gungahlin to ambassadors’ villas in Red Hill, homes in the nation’s capital all have one thing in common.
Canberra has been named the world capital with the largest average home size at a whopping 256.3 square metres, according to an analysis by UK firm Buildworld.
That’s 560 per cent more floor space than the bottom-ranked Moscow, where the average was just 45.5 square metres, and 36 per cent bigger than Cairo in second place at 188 square metres, the report found.
“It’s surprising but it’s not overly surprising,” said Josh Yewdall from Belle Property Canberra, who is currently selling an “enormous” five-bedroom, three-bathroom house in the southern suburb of Gordon.
The 450 square metre, Mediterranean-style mansion on Clem Hill Street is set across four levels on a 1500 square metre block backing onto a national park.
Billed as the “ultimate entertainers home”, the $2.5 million property boasts multiple living spaces with terrace access, an eight-car garage and self-contained external pool house.
“It’s on another level,” Mr Yewdall said. “They bought it in 2009 and have done extensive renovations — imported tiles, Santorini vibe, pool deck, huge rock retaining walls.”
He noted there were “a lot of really nice houses in Canberra” as well as a lot of “new, fast-growing suburbs” with smaller blocks but large houses. “They might only be blocks of 500 square metres but they’ll put a big monster on it that’s two storeys,” he said.
Particularly after Covid, a lot of people were building “the house they always wanted”.
“We call Clem Hill the ultimate Covid house — you don’t want to leave,” he said.
Kostya Logvinov from Town Residential, who is selling a six-bedroom, three-bathroom home closer to the city in Chapman, agreed that “the dream in Canberra is to have a big house”.
“When Canberra was first introduced they had to entice people from Sydney and Melbourne to move to be public servants,” he said.
“One of the ways they did that was to sell this dream of a very family-friendly city where you could have a big house with a big backyard, raise a family.”
Even on smaller blocks “people want a big five or six-bedroom house with a swimming pool”.
“I see a lot of people who have two or three kids want to have three living areas, a study,” Mr Logvinov said. “A lot of parents in Canberra are working from home now so they want that sixth bedroom as well.”
The 313 square metre Chapman home, set on a 975 square metre block in a “blue-chip” cul-de-sac, includes a downstairs studio apartment with private access and three “oversized” living areas.
“It’s a home that has been well maintained over the years — the house itself is quite large with a lot of space to raise a family,” Mr Logvinov said.
“Chapman historically is a suburb with a very good name. It has a level of prestige with good schools nearby and it’s quite close to the CBD.”
Research from CommSec last year came to a similar finding that Australian and American homes are now the biggest on earth — with the average floor space for a new freestanding single family home in both countries at 229 square metres.
CommSec found newly built houses in the ACT averaged 259 square metres.
“Canberra’s homes are larger than those in any other capital, or any other city in Australia,” Buildworld’s report said.
“But it’s not necessarily a good thing. Critics suggest building massive homes in Canberra is a trend that’s out of control, with developers adding rooms for the sake of it and bumping up the carbon footprint along with the property footprint.”
And as local architect Shannon Battison told The Canberra Times last year, “We’re leaving vast members of the community behind, because not everyone can or should afford a huge house. And lots of us who can’t afford these huge houses, but feel the need to build them because that’s what everybody builds, are building them really badly.”
Buildworld’s analysis was based on a country-by-country analysis of property listings, and manual research to find studies conducted within the last 12 months from local real estate companies in each country. The data was collected in October 2022.
The report noted that there were “ongoing economic factors” to consider.
“Smaller homes have been known to gain value more quickly (with the exception of so-called micro-homes under 37 square metres) — but larger homes are currently driving demand as workers continue to decamp to the home office,” it said.
“And while smaller homes tend to have a higher price tag per square metre, bigger ones cost more to heat and maintain.”
Capital cities with largest homes
• Canberra, Australia 256.3
• Cairo, Egypt 188.0
• Tripoli, Libya 180.0
• Amman, Jordan 170.0
• Ottawa, Canada 163.8
• Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic 160.1
• Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 158.4
• Jakarta, Indonesia 157.0
• Manila, Philippines 155.0
• Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates 153.4
• Brussels, Belgium 151.8
• Islamabad, Pakistan 149.6
• Muscat, Oman 145.0
• Ankara, Turkey 140.0
• Luxembourg, Luxembourg 130.0
• Edinburgh, Scotland 129.5
• New Delhi, India 129.1
• Wellington, New Zealand 123.0
• Nicosia, Cyprus 119.0
• Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea 118.0
Capital cities with smallest homes
• Moscow, Russia 45.5
• Bangkok, Thailand 51.0
• Paris, France 52.0
• Tehran, Iran 55.0
• Warsaw, Poland 55.4
• Budapest, Hungary 56.7
• Stockholm, Sweden 57.4
• Helsinki, Finland 58.0
• Bucharest, Romania 60.0
• Montevideo, Uruguay 60.6
• Hanoi, Vietnam 61.0
• Mexico City, Mexico 61.8
• Minsk, Belarus 63.8
• Buenos Aires, Argentina 64.0
• Prague, Czech Republic 65.0
• Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia 67.0
• Oslo, Norway 68.1
• Bratislava, Slovakia 69.0
• Tallinn, Estonia 70.0
• Quito, Ecuador 70.0
Source: Buildworld