Curbed National summarizes a Wall Street Journal story in a post titled about McMansions Return:

If you were just reading this quick summary, you might think McMansions are “making a comeback.” But the data cited in the Wall Street Journal story doesn’t quite say this:

But the Home Design Trend Survey, released today by the American Institute of Architects, shows a slight change from previous years on home size and buyer sentiment.

The survey, which has been conducted quarterly since 2005, asks a panel of 500 architectural firms that focus on residential properties what customers are asking for in new developments. The percentage reporting that customers wanted smaller houses has seemingly started to drop.

This year, about 52% of firms surveyed reported a decrease in the square footage of the houses they’re designing this year, down from 57% last year. Today’s numbers also show fewer firms reporting decreases in lot size (down to 22 percent from 32 percent) and lot volume (down to 18 percent from 21 percent).

“Overall, home-and-lot sizes showing signs of increasing slightly indicates that the housing market is stabilizing after being in a downward spiral since 2007,” says Kermit Baker, AIA’s chief economist.

So it’s not that homes are getting larger; rather, the decrease in size over the last few years is slowing. The downward trend line is plateauing. This does not necessarily mean that it will go up soon – as Baker suggests, perhaps housing is just “stabilizing.” Both headlines, the Wall Street Journal post is titled “Are McMansions Coming Back in Style,” seem pretty sensationalistic by suggesting McMansions are once again going to be the norm when the data really doesn’t say this.

Also: the WSJ story throws in a paragraph about an uptick in outdoor kitchens. While the rest of the story suggests McMansions are all about size and square footage, this add-in suggests McMansions also are luxurious homes. I would be curious to know how often outside kitchens are used by homeowners that have them.