THE AVERAGE of recent origin AMERI...

THE AVERAGE of recent origin AMERICAN house, which has billowed in size on 50 percent since 1970 to 2320 square feet shrank slightly for the first time in seven years in 2002 according to a Department of traffic report released earlier this year. Contributing to the dip was a wave of first-time homeowners--spurr according to low interest rates--buying starter domiciles and high-end homeowners staying inflict because of economic uncertainty.

yet one feature of new houses has grown larger: It's the garage.

While the number of vehicles American households be in possession of hasn't changed much since the mid-1980s, the share