The Australian dream of owning your own home has become a lot smaller in high-demand areas, with buyers snapping up tiny properties as they try to break into the housing market or downsize from something bigger.
The sprawling Aura estate on Queensland's Sunshine Coast has created new homes for thousands of residents as the developer rolls towards building 20,000 dwellings in the coming decades.
Many of the lots still feature a yard big enough for a dog and clothesline, but there is growing demand for "built-to-boundary" homes that are almost entirely covered by the house.
Developer Stockland estimates that one in three of its new properties were "more compact, affordable lots".
Aura Property senior salesman Kingsley Ellmer said buyers could purchase a two-storey home with two bedrooms on a 68-square-metre block for about $500,000.
Mr Ellmer said buyers still asked for the largest block they could afford, but rising house prices meant the smaller lot was the best fit.
He said Stockland was including "a lot of outside spaces" and walking trails for those who opted for a smaller property.
"I think lifestyle dictated a lot of that," he said.
"I do see houses that have got big blocks or big yards and the time that people have to spend on those [smaller] yards is very minimal.
"The reality is when you get up to a 400-square-metre block there's a lot of people that just don't have the time to maintain it.
"Even though it's not a big yard, they just don't have the time."
Thousands of homes, nowhere to stay
Caloundra MP Jason Hunt said the emerging suburb of Banya in the Aura estate would create thousands of homes, but it would not be enough to address the region's housing crisis.
Last week a major national report found the shortage of housing on the Sunshine Coast was costing the region $15 million a week and that jobs were going unfilled because workers had nowhere to stay.
"We're used to people moving to Queensland," Mr Hunt said.
"It's climactically perfect, it's a beautiful place to live — that's always been the case.
"But what's happened now is it's gone up another gear."
Mr Hunt said the changing sizes of property also showed how the region's population was becoming younger.
He said those buyers were seeking smaller, cheaper sites.
"It's a positive and it's very exciting," Mr Hunt said.
"The average age has dropped quite considerably and it's continuing to fall."
Stockland project director Josh Sondergeld said one third of homes were sold to first home buyers and another third went to families.
He said alongside the smaller properties, there were also villa homes and "more traditional-tilstyle" family homes.
