Homebuyers been lamenting the loss of the "starter home" for years, but it looks like market mechanisms may be forcing the return of that option:

It's a little more complicated than a dining room:

Home prices are near record highs, frustrating millions of potential buyers who feel priced out of the housing market. Home builders are having to find ways to make their product more affordable to increase their pool of customers.

Shrinking the size of a new single-family home is an increasingly popular way to do it. Smaller homes can help cost-constrained buyers facing high mortgage rates. They also boost the bottom line for builders who are contending with spiraling labor and construction costs.

I mean, look: Is this really that revolutionary of a concept? Again: It's a starter home! These things have been around for many, many years. It's normal! Are we supposed to pretend that we've never even heard of such a thing?

And it's not even like these houses are getting that small! Over the past five years, "the average unit size for new housing starts has decreased 10% nationally to 2,420 square feet."

Twenty-four hundred square feet?! That's enormous.

In 1970 the average home size in the U.S. was 1,500 square feet!

(And people raised 4-5 kids in that space.)

Homebuyers have on average 60% more space than they did in the midcentury decades, and we're acting like this is some sort of sacrifice?

In December, Brad and Julie Redman downsized from their more-than 7,000 square-foot custom-built home to a 3,400 square-foot semi-custom model in Westfield, Ind., after their children left home.

Despite the smaller house and yard in a denser neighborhood, the couple is happy with the decision. They gave up a formal dining area when they moved, but their new eating area easily converts to space for entertaining guests.

"We can use the same space for more than one thing," Julie Redman said.

You know what we call a 7,000 square-foot custom-built home?

A mansion.

So these very wealthy people had to opt for a home that's only twice the size of most starter homes, but they couldn't fit in a dining room? Mmk.

To be sure, it's not like these options are all that cheaper. One homebuilding company's scaled-down options "still range in price between $400,000 and $800,000." Prices are still way up.

In short: The housing market is still crazy expensive, and 2,400-square-foot homes aren't going to help solve it anytime soon.

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