Northwest Iowa — Could the inevitable game of “keeping up with the Joneses” have unintended consequences? Possibly.
An Iowa State University study finds people are more likely to be unhappy with their house if it’s smaller than their neighbors’ houses. Daniel Kuhlmann, an ISU professor of community and regional planning, studied data as far back as the US Census’ 1993 National American Housing Survey, which included a special neighborhood section assessing people’s home satisfaction.
Our housing decisions may affect our neighbors’ actions, Kuhlmann says, and we could be unwittingly pushing our neighbors to spend more money to buy larger homes to “catch up.” It’s one possible explanation for the steady boost in the size of single-family houses nationwide over the last five decades.
As suburbs become more developed, Kuhlmann says big houses tend to beget even bigger houses. His research found that people living in the smallest house in their neighborhood are on average five-percent more likely to say they’re dissatisfied with their house compared to those living in the largest houses.
The study was published earlier this month in the academic journal Housing Studies.
