Australians have world's biggest homes

CANBERRA: Australia has overtaken the United States, the heartland of the McMansion, to boast the world's largest homes, according to a report by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

Research commissioned by the bank's broking arm, CommSec, shows the Australian house has grown on average by 10 percent in the past decade to 214.6 square metre - nearly three times the size of the average British house.

By contrast, the average size of new homes started in the United States in the September quarter was 201.5 square metre , down from 212 square metre , with the average US home shrinking for the first time in a decade due to the recession.