A new survey suggests that homeowners are moving away from large, opulent homes to ones with a smaller footprint and more practicality, writes Terri Williams for Forbes.

Kristina O’Donnell, an associate broker and realtor at Realty ONE in Collegeville agrees with the survey.

She says that the experience of the COVID-19 lockdowns has shifted what homeowners want.

“The focus shifted to reducing the size of the home and creating space with multiple uses that increase functionality while eliminating less-used space. An open floor plan encourages togetherness with an easy flow for entertaining and being able to keep an eye on the kids while in the kitchen or working from home.”

Not to mention smaller homes are easier to maintain and keep clean.

The Opendoor survey found that 60% of respondents say they have changed what constitutes their dream home and 52% said they want a smaller home.

Slightly more than 81% also said they would like a simpler style or design, and more than half said that one of their top priorities when looking for a new home is a quiet, secluded setting.

Opendoor called this latest trend “simple-sizing.” A majority of the respondents said that simple living was important to them.

Read more about how the definition of the American dream home has changed from realtors like Kristina O’Donnell in Forbes.

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Big living in small spaces.