The tiny house appeal

The small spaces are usually less than 500 square feet and often on the wheels of a flatbed trailer. The narrow house tends to have a kitchen, bathroom, and sitting area, and usually a loft bedroom.

Tiny houses appeal to home buyers who are not interested in living large. For a small but growing segment of the population, the small dwellings are making homeownership a possibility.

The reasons for the popularity of tiny homes are affordability and that they satisfy young people's need for mobility. They can be easily sold or rented.

Whether tiny houses will continue in the future depends on the economy. If the middle class continues to shrink, small...