What’s a micro-house? Don’t think small. Think tiny.

You know something about half the size of the executive washroom at Enron’s old headquarters. The typical River Oaks matron has a shoe closet bigger than a micro-house. For goodness’ sake, Tilman Fertitta’s limo has more square footage.

The micro-house is little. Some are less than 400 square feet, like an efficiency apartment.

The micro-house is affordable. Think less than $100,000.

The micro-house is urban. If they happen, these dwellings will be built on small, close-in lots near downtown, Midtown or the Montrose area.

The micro-house is not for a family with two cars. In fact, it probably won’t even be for a family with one car. A true micro-house complex is not going to come with parking lots, garages or carports. These homes are mostly for people who are committed to bicycles, public transportation or walking.

The micro-house is a hot trend in Tokyo, of course. And there are probably quite a few of them scattered around here and there on a onesie-twosie basis in the United States.

But could this trend go mainstream? Amazingly, the answer is yes.

Fort Worth-based D. R. Horton, the largest home builder the nation, has just begun construction In Portland, Ore., on Division 43, a micro-house complex with 29 units on less than a half-acre.

Follow the Texas Giant

D. R. Horton’s Division 43 homes, ranging in size from 364 square feet to 687 square feet, are priced at approximately $100,000 and up. The Portland market has an appetite for the product. Half the units were spoken for in a matter of days and it’s a slam dunk for a quick sell-out before the building is finished this summer.

D.R. Horton has tapped into a strong current in the marketplace. The company didn’t get to be the biggest builder in nation by being stupid. D.R. Horton sold 20,875 houses last year, raking in $4.3 billion, even though the housing market is slow. When a company like that dabbles in a new kind of housing product, it makes sense to pay attention.

D. R. Horton is reportedly looking at other cities for micro-house development opportunities, according to Big Builder Online, a respected trade publication with superb industry intelligence.

The idea seems right for the times. Smaller, efficient homes certainly seem more eco-friendly than gigantic homes with wasted space and rooms that are never used – and a lot of consumers are concerned about that.
And then there are the financial concerns. Apartment rents are rising, electricity is expensive -- and can $5-a-gallon gasoline be far away?

Living in an urban area, near downtown or the major employment centers is a popular desire for Houstonians – avoid the commute, avoid big gasoline bills, be where the action is. People want to live close in. But affordability is a significant hurdle. Close-in homes and condos are pretty pricey, for the most part, in Houston. Perhaps the micro-homes in Houston can be built with some auto parking without driving up the costs too much.

So it seems likely that a large-scale micro-house effort will be tried in Houston, sooner or later.

Small is Beautiful

But make no mistake, being smaller is more beautiful in the eyes of many homebuyers today. Smaller-scale dwellings are coming to the American marketplace, whether it’s a micro-house or just a more reasonable-sized $1 million box in West University Place.

Consider the words of Miami architect Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, one of the most influential voices in urban planning: “People are seeking new kinds of housing,” she told Urban Land magazine recently. “There’s an economic emphasis on small.”

Throughout all levels of the home market, in all states, consumers are demanding smaller houses.

According to the National Association of Home Builders, the average home built in the United States in 2010 had 2,377 square feet, down from 2,438 square feet in 2009. The builders predict the average size will decline to 2,150 square feet in 2015. Home sizes have been trending down in recent years after the national average home size peaked in 2007 at 2,520 square feet.

Part of it is about the sustainability and living in smaller houses is a way to reduce the homeowner’s footprint on the environment. Part of it is about cutting costs in a sickly economy.

But if builders can come up with the right formula, very small, very affordable micro-houses would be winning addition to Houston’s urban fabric.

Ralph Bivins, former president of the National Association of Real Estate Editors, is founding editor of RealtyNewsReport.com