I guess I'm not sure what you mean by disastrous real estate market...

Market is very cyclicle...in my area it is a buyers market...meaning there is excess supply...some houses taking a long time to sell...this will eventually flip flop...Office market...in general I'm seeing more smaller users in office space...meaning in sq ft size...seeing more one person offices moving back home...builders and developers are always behind so they anticipate what the need will be...just toured an old building downtown that is being converted to condos...top floor will have two suites each 1.5 M...take the whole floor for 2.5 M...that doesn't include any walls, fixtures, electrical, you just get the shell...

Regarding the grand sizes of houses...I think a big waste too...I'm in a 55 year old 1 1/2 story home...don't plan on leaving it...updates when I can... a home is much more than the size or quality of cabinets, etc. I'm always surprized...I have the original hard wood floors and linoleum, kitchen cabinets, windows, etc...they knew how to build houses back then with high quality (ok not a lot of flash)...some of the new houses being slapped up I wonder the ultimate longevity of homes like that...I know that inside there are high finishes...but the construction itself leaves IMO little to be desired...