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> "Our products are for middle class people who don’t have access to housing and can’t afford to buy," That's quite broad definition of middle-class. I could

> "Our products are for middle class people who don’t have access to housing and can’t afford to buy," That's quite broad definition of middle-class. I could understand the middle-class buyers, not so much the dwellers. Perhaps, disintegration of middle-class is a root cause for people considering such living standards as 'convenient'. Effectively,you live in a tight dorm.

marcosdumay 7y ago
Not much disintegration. Home prices skyroccketed, so even rich (not super-rich) people have difficulty on buying, what is a different thing. There has been some middle class disintegration too, but it is much slower and smaller.
- zoomablemind 7y ago
  If prices are beyond the reach of the supposedly stabilizing part of the society, then who's buying what's on the market? Either there's a high degree of consolidation on the real estate market, such that the properties are in hands of large conglomerates (maybe foreign). Or the middle class effectively has low buying power, which again asks to reconsider its middle definition. Clearly there's some serious disbalance at play. Small square footage offerings are not a solution, rather it's another way to further increase a unit-price.
  - lsc 7y ago
    I... think per-squarefootage costs right now fit my budget just fine? but only ifyou sell me a 300sqft place, like this describes. Most "middle class" owners bought in before prices came up; real-estate, like everything, is priced at the margin
  - marcosdumay 7y ago
    There hasn't been much of a market lately. On the largest cities centers, housing mostly does not sell. The very small amount that sells is usually brought by rich people making unsound decisions (like betting they'll never have a month without a job on the next 30 years). People have been moving away from those centers and leaving housing there empty.
lsc 7y ago
>Perhaps, disintegration of middle-class is a root cause for people considering such living standards as 'convenient'. Effectively,you live in a tight dorm. so, uh, I didn't go to school, so maybe I'm missing something, but I thought that dorms were usually shared bedrooms or something; personally, I think there's a huge difference between having a small private space and having no private space, and most of the problem with living in a dorm is having no private space. That's where this sort of thing comes in. A lot of the single people I know in silicon valley, even a lot of the high earners, rent rooms in houses; houses that are designed for families. The thing is, if you are an introvert, you'd be better off with something built in a more hotel-like way, with more private area per common area, and with more bathrooms. (oh my, with more bathrooms.)
- ghaff 7y ago
  Private bathrooms and rooms really start to pump up the required living area. The minimum size is about 200 sq. Ft. and that’s without even minimal kitchen/dining facilities. Or really anyplace for someone to sit other than a bed or a small desk chair.
  - lsc 7y ago
    sure, but the things we're talking about are 10m^2, or a little more than 300sqft. If you are building for me, you have a water closet with toilet and shower, and then a sink, but no real kitchen. I eat out or at work anyhow; a desktop convection oven is overkill for my kitchen needs. I mean, I think at this point we're around/above the size of the bedroom most people rent around here? I mean, at that size, I want a murphy bed, but even without, this is a size a lot of people live with right now. Sure, I'd prefer some place bigger... but if you sell me 10m^2 in the bay area, say, for a quarter million dollars? I'd vastly prefer that to the really big place that a quarter million gets me in the midwest. Preferences vary.
    - zoomablemind 7y ago
      Just to realign your expectations - 10m^2 yields you about 107sqft. Roughgly, a 6ft tall person fits twice on either side.
richajak 7y ago
I think this phenomenon is an obvious sign of incompetent government based on my experience living and traveling in several countries (not in the same sub-continent mentioned in the article). An apartment, smaller than the hotel room (typical 4x6m) is not a proper living place, whether it's meant for single guy or a small family. I like the approach in one country, where all the apartments must fit certain size, e.g. 80sqm for a family with 2 kids. Even, for low-income income families, they still have to get at least 50sqm, government will subsidize.
- bigato 7y ago
  I reserve the right to live in a smaller space than what you consider proper, and I do so by choice and not out of need. My 4x3m plus small bathroom is great and easy to maintain.
- icebraining 7y ago
  > An apartment, smaller than the hotel room (typical 4x6m) is not a proper living place Why?
- matz1 7y ago
  Its might not be for you but its a proper living space for me. I would choose to move to smaller than 4x6m apartment, even though I can easily afford much larger size. Why? simply because I don't need the extra space. If I can save couple hundred bucks a month then I'm all for it. The problem is those apartments is not available in my area, no one is building it. To me its the fault of the incompetence government and its regulation.

marcosdumay 7y ago

Not much disintegration. Home prices skyroccketed, so even rich (not super-rich) people have difficulty on buying, what is a different thing. There has been some middle class disintegration too, but it is much slower and smaller.

zoomablemind 7y ago
If prices are beyond the reach of the supposedly stabilizing part of the society, then who's buying what's on the market? Either there's a high degree of consolidation on the real estate market, such that the properties are in hands of large conglomerates (maybe foreign). Or the middle class effectively has low buying power, which again asks to reconsider its middle definition. Clearly there's some serious disbalance at play. Small square footage offerings are not a solution, rather it's another way to further increase a unit-price.
- lsc 7y ago
  I... think per-squarefootage costs right now fit my budget just fine? but only ifyou sell me a 300sqft place, like this describes. Most "middle class" owners bought in before prices came up; real-estate, like everything, is priced at the margin
- marcosdumay 7y ago
  There hasn't been much of a market lately. On the largest cities centers, housing mostly does not sell. The very small amount that sells is usually brought by rich people making unsound decisions (like betting they'll never have a month without a job on the next 30 years). People have been moving away from those centers and leaving housing there empty.

lsc 7y ago

>Perhaps, disintegration of middle-class is a root cause for people considering such living standards as 'convenient'. Effectively,you live in a tight dorm. so, uh, I didn't go to school, so maybe I'm missing something, but I thought that dorms were usually shared bedrooms or something; personally, I think there's a huge difference between having a small private space and having no private space, and most of the problem with living in a dorm is having no private space. That's where this sort of thing comes in. A lot of the single people I know in silicon valley, even a lot of the high earners, rent rooms in houses; houses that are designed for families. The thing is, if you are an introvert, you'd be better off with something built in a more hotel-like way, with more private area per common area, and with more bathrooms. (oh my, with more bathrooms.)

ghaff 7y ago
Private bathrooms and rooms really start to pump up the required living area. The minimum size is about 200 sq. Ft. and that’s without even minimal kitchen/dining facilities. Or really anyplace for someone to sit other than a bed or a small desk chair.
- lsc 7y ago
  sure, but the things we're talking about are 10m^2, or a little more than 300sqft. If you are building for me, you have a water closet with toilet and shower, and then a sink, but no real kitchen. I eat out or at work anyhow; a desktop convection oven is overkill for my kitchen needs. I mean, I think at this point we're around/above the size of the bedroom most people rent around here? I mean, at that size, I want a murphy bed, but even without, this is a size a lot of people live with right now. Sure, I'd prefer some place bigger... but if you sell me 10m^2 in the bay area, say, for a quarter million dollars? I'd vastly prefer that to the really big place that a quarter million gets me in the midwest. Preferences vary.
  - zoomablemind 7y ago
    Just to realign your expectations - 10m^2 yields you about 107sqft. Roughgly, a 6ft tall person fits twice on either side.

richajak 7y ago

I think this phenomenon is an obvious sign of incompetent government based on my experience living and traveling in several countries (not in the same sub-continent mentioned in the article). An apartment, smaller than the hotel room (typical 4x6m) is not a proper living place, whether it's meant for single guy or a small family. I like the approach in one country, where all the apartments must fit certain size, e.g. 80sqm for a family with 2 kids. Even, for low-income income families, they still have to get at least 50sqm, government will subsidize.

bigato 7y ago
I reserve the right to live in a smaller space than what you consider proper, and I do so by choice and not out of need. My 4x3m plus small bathroom is great and easy to maintain.
icebraining 7y ago
> An apartment, smaller than the hotel room (typical 4x6m) is not a proper living place Why?
matz1 7y ago
Its might not be for you but its a proper living space for me. I would choose to move to smaller than 4x6m apartment, even though I can easily afford much larger size. Why? simply because I don't need the extra space. If I can save couple hundred bucks a month then I'm all for it. The problem is those apartments is not available in my area, no one is building it. To me its the fault of the incompetence government and its regulation.