people want great quality and will give up some quantity to get it.  That was not the case 5 or ten years ago, from around 2001 to 2006.  Easy credit and crazy home lenders made it possible to buy massive mac mansions on almost no income.  If a farm hand in Bakersfield could fog a mirror he could buy a $750,000 house.  (That actually happened.)  I remember reading during the first few years of the 21st century about some guys building very high quality manufactured homes, so well made that they gave the potential resident the feeling of being in a luxury car.  I never heard anymore, since they just did not offer the square footage that “everyman home buyer” with the young wife and 2.3 children wanted. I think folks these days, those who have had enough of air conditioning bills on 3,000 square foot trophy houses, would bite at the chance of buying an affordable, 1400 to 1700 square foot home with lots of light and simple interior finishing.