The Incredible Shrinking 'Burbs

These days, small is big. It's like buying a condo, but you don't have to share the barbecue.

Lisa Van de Ven, National Post Published: Friday, May 22, 2009

What's 864 square feet, has one or two bedrooms, and comes complete with an east-end suburban address?

With that square footage, you might assume it's a condominium suite, tucked away in a high-rise building somewhere. But this unit comes with a backyard and a 40-foot frontage. It's the new raised bungalow design by Tribute Communities, one of several small detached-home layouts at the developer's Park Ridge and the Grove projects in Oshawa and Ajax.

But don't be surprised if you start seeing them in other locations. Super-small low-rise homes are catching on -- at least in certain locations around the greater Toronto area. Buyers want smaller homes, whether for convenience, affordability or environmental concern, and developers are responding.

"We're getting both empty nesters and we're getting first-time buyers," says Scott McLellan, Tribute's senior vice-president of sales and marketing. "It's funny how the perception of 864 sq. ft. is small, but if you're an empty nester and you're looking at a downtown condo, an 864-sq.-ft. one-bedroom-and-den is actually large."

And for buyers of small homes, the option is either a condo or a low-rise home. Whether they're a first-time buyer or an empty nester, they don't need the space found in a traditional suburban home. But they do still want a backyard and the privacy of a low-rise dwelling. In some cases, they also want the price tag that comes alongside: at Park Ridge, Tribute's 874-sq.-ft. traditional bungalow starts at $234,990, while the 864-sq.-ft. raised bungalow begins at $239,990. Small two-storey detached homes of 1,018 sq. ft. and up also start at $234,990. (Prices are slightly higher at the Grove). For $20,000 more, Tribute will also finish the bungalow basements; an option that doesn't exist in a condo suite.

According to Mr. McLellan, the new product was in response to demand. "The first-time buyers would come in and affordability was a concern," he says. "The empty nester didn't have a lot of urgency, but [couldn't find] what they were looking for. That's when we put our heads together."

But buyers themselves aren't the only ones driving the trend, says Sue Webb Smith, marketing director for the housing division of Geranium Home. At Geranium's freehold condominium townhouse site Cardinal Point, in Stouffville -- where sizes start at 1,081 sq. ft. -- the town itself suggested the smaller layouts.

"Geranium specifically went to the town and worked with the town to develop some smaller product," she says. "The town welcomed the idea."

The move was a reaction to environmental issues relating to urban sprawl, Ms. Webb Smith says. Stouffville is a popular location for commuters making their way to the city every day, and while the town wanted to encourage growth, it also wanted to keep its footprint as small as possible, with smaller home layouts. Buyers, meanwhile, have reacted well to the product, and the small layouts at Cardinal Point have been selling quickly, mostly to young first-time buyers in their late 20s to late 30s, some with small families but most without. "We really hit a niche," Ms. Webb Smith says.