The ACT is building the largest houses in Australia as the nation reverses a trend towards smaller homes.
An annual report on the size of housing shows after years of building progressively smaller houses on average, Australians last year built the largest in the world.
The CommSec report released on Monday showed Canberrans led the nation in 2019-20 on new house size with an average floor area of 256.3 square metres, ahead of second-placed Victoria on 250.3 square metres.
On average a new house built in Australia was 2.9 per cent larger compared to the previous year, the biggest increase in 11 years.
Government-imposed lockdowns in response to COVID-19 have prompted more Aussies to re-assess their housing needs.
Craig James
Houses built in the United States during the 2019 calendar year by comparison fell in size for the fourth year, down 3 per cent to 233.1 square metres, according to data commissioned by CommSec from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
After building progressively smaller houses on average for many years, Australians may change their tastes as COVID-19 forces them to spend more time at home, CommSec chief economist Craig James said.
"The big question is whether the decade-long downtrend in home size has ended," he said.
"And COVID-19 may play a big role in answering that question.
"Government-imposed lockdowns in response to the COVID-19 virus have prompted more Aussies to re-assess their housing needs.
"With more time spent at home for both leisure and work, some Aussies are looking for bigger homes.
"Others are coming to the belief that the layout of their home needs changing."
The CommSec report showed Australia's new apartments also grew in size last year, lifting 6 per cent to a decade high of 136.8 square metres.
An average new home built in 2019-20, counting both houses and apartments, was up by 3 per cent to a six year high of 195.8 square metres.
