Cannot speak for 'most people' - but this attitude is annoying me - if people who build huge multi ensuite homes can justify their choice as being right for them (as several posters above have done) then why can you not also see that people could choose to build smaller homes because such is right for them NOT becasue they were restrained by budget, block size or council regulations.
As I said before, DH and I both have steady reasonably well paying jobs - we have no mortgage and no other debts, we have a block of over 700m2, much larger house or 2 story house would of fit or we could of bought larger block, council would certainly let us build larger house - nothing constrained us, we purely chose to build a 23 sq house because thats what we want.
Accepting peoples choices has to work both ways - not assuming people who built smaller didnt choose that.
I said most people, not everyone. There are always going to be exceptions to the rule. Depending on you stage in life, a lot of people who build have a family and as such, would like to build to accommodate the anticipated future needs of their family. As such, many would prefer to build a larger house over a smaller house, but may not be able to because of the constraints listed above. However, not everyone will automatically think "bigger is better". Which is good too.
Given that houses are, on average, getting bigger and not smaller, I think it is not unreasonable to suggest that MOST people would prefer to build a bigger house if they had no constraints dictating their choices & decisions.
Personally, I will build the house that suits my family. I assume you have done the same. Which is, of course, perfectly reasonable. I did not mean to disrespect your individual choice to build the house you are building, whatever its size/configurations/features. I was talking in general terms, which I thought I made clear?