【英语国际】美国人也要蜗居了？

How big is your ideal home?

Does somewhere between 1,400 and 2,600 square feet sound right? That was the answer given by more than half of those who responded to a recent survey from real-estate site Trulia.com.

Trulia points to this information plus data from the National Association of Home Builders and the U.S. Census, among others, and wonders Is the McMansion Era Over?

It increasingly seems like that's the case. As we've written before, the American love affair with massive and mass-produced luxury homes is fast coming to a close. The average home size peaked at 2,521 square feet in 2007. (WSJ reporter Kelly Evans noticed home sizes shrinking in the second quarter of 2007.) Home size came in flat in 2008 and fell in 2009 as builders built smaller, less ornate homes priced lower to compete with foreclosures.

In a WSJ story in November, Michael Phillips looked at the luxury home business and found that many builders were scaling back, 'struggling to distinguish among what home buyers need, what they what they want and what they can live without - Jacuzzi by Jacuzzi, butler's pantry by butler's pantry.'

One builder in the article spent months trying to figure out what features luxury home buyers are willing to give up. What's out: Jacuzzi tubs, curved staircases and two-story foyers. Must-haves: a downstairs powder room, a garage that fits at least two cars, granite countertops in the kitchen and four bedrooms.

Yep, four bedrooms. Clearly, Americans still want their space. We don't expect a great mass of people to join the Tiny House movement anytime soon and live in an 89-square-foot structure like this guy.

This Kyoto home featured in today's WSJ is just 640 square feet. There are no closets, no television and guests sit on the floor and the family of four who lives there shares a sleeping room. Sound appealing?

Readers, what size is your ideal home?

心目当中理想的家有多大？

面积在1,400到2,600平方英尺（约合130平方米到242平方米）之间的房子够理想吗？超过半数的人在房地产网站Trulia.com最近的一项调查中给出了肯定的答案。

根据这一信息，以及来自全美住房建筑商协会(National Association of Home Builders)、美国人口普查局(the U.S. Census)等其它机构的数据，Trulia发出了这样的疑问：豪宅时代结束了吗？

现实情况看上去越发像是那么回事。正如我们之前讨论过的，美国人与规模庞大、批量生产的豪宅之间的爱情故事正在迅速消散。美国平均住房面积在2007年达到了2,521平方英尺（约合234平方米）的峰值。（《华尔街日报》记者凯莉•埃文斯[Kelly Evans]注意到房屋面积在2007年第二季度有所缩小）。2008年住房面积没有变化。2009年，随着开发商建造出售价更低的面积更小、装修也更简洁的住房来和那些丧失抵押品赎回权的拍卖屋竞争，住房面积开始缩小。

在《华尔街日报》去年11月份的一篇报导中，迈克尔•菲利普斯(Michael Phillips)观察了当时的豪宅产业，发现许多开发商正在缩减豪宅的规模，“他们千方百计地去分辨什么东西是购房人需要的，什么是他们想要的，以及什么是他们没有也可以将就的──是否要配备Jacuzzi豪华浴缸，是否要设计配膳室，一样一样地认真考虑。”

文章中提到的一位开发商花了好几个月的时间，试图想清楚什么东西是豪宅买家愿意放弃的。结果是，Jacuzzi浴缸、螺旋式楼梯和两层高的宽敞门厅可以不要，但一楼的盥洗室、容纳至少两辆车的车库、铺设有花岗岩台面的厨房和四间卧室却是不可或缺的。

没错，四间卧室。很明显，美国人还是希望拥有自己的私人空间。我们预计大多数人都不会很快加入蜗居大潮，像这个人一样住在89平方英尺（约合8平方米）的房子里。

《华尔街日报》一篇报导中提到的这间位于京都的房子只有640平方英尺（约合59平方米），没有储藏室和电视，客人来了就坐在地上，而且四口之家共享一间卧室。听起来有兴趣吗？

读者朋友们，多大的房子才是你心目中理想的家呢？