Builders are still building some big houses even in a down housing market:

It may be politically incorrect, but some builders are putting up larger houses, not smaller ones, according to Builder, a trade journal.

Spurred by inexpensive land costs, builders in many markets are able to erect McMansions for only a small percentage of what they cost before the housing market implosion…

These places are largely big boxes, so they aren’t likely to win any design awards, says the magazine’s editorial director, Boyce Thompson. But they’re decked out with enough sizzle that they are hard to resist, whether or not you need the space.

“Even as average new-home sizes have fallen slightly across the country,” the magazine reports, “builders in some markets are finding a profitable and underserved niche of buyers who need or want a house as big as a mansion with the price tag of a cottage.”

Four quick thoughts based on this:

1. The comment that it is “politically incorrect” to have a big box house is fascinating. This has happened in a relatively short amount of time, roughly 5-6 years.

2. The comment that these houses “are hard to resist” is also interesting. Americans do like their housing deals. Even if people shouldn’t buy these homes, who can pass up a great deal?

3. There is still some money to be made in new houses in the right circumstances.

4. What is the quality of these homes? McMansions have that term partly because people argue they are mass-produced and made of cheaper materials meant to impress rather than to last.