Abstract
The number of a newly built detached house for sale, especially those built over small site, namely “mini-kodate”, tends to increase recently in urban area. Based on the field survey conducted at two such housing estates in Sakai City in 2003, this paper examines the characteristics of residents who bought a “mini-kodate” recently and the reasons why they chose them. Compared with the residents who bought such a house in 1970's, the recent buyers are diverse in terms of the age, occupation, family type, housing career, reason of purchase and so on. We find that recent “mini-kodate” is bought by 1) not only young family household but also both young and senior couples without children, 2) not only those who count the convenience for commuting but also those who are attracted by the urbanity of the surroundings, 3) those who set value on neighborhood, and 4) those who afford to pay relatively high cost for the specific housing quality.
