Between Dallas and NYC, “Cozy” is a Relative Term, says Trulia Economist Jed Kolko

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We’re seeing Jed Kolko’s name pop up all over the place nowadays. This time it was in this Wall Street Journal piece comparing how the word “cozy” is often used to denote “small” properties in real estate markets.

“Cozy is one of those words that means very different things in different markets. Cozy in Texas is not what’s cozy in San Francisco,” says Jed Kolko, chief economist at TruliaTRLA +0.02% a real-estate website.

Trulia examined for-sale listings, excluding foreclosures, in 100 U.S. metro areas between Jan. 1, 2011, and Nov. 30, 2012. “In every metro area, homes that mention cozy are smaller than listings that do not,” Mr. Kolko says.

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I love how the story compares Dallas “cozy” to New York “cozy” (read: claustrophobic). Of course, we get the total cliche out of the way thanks to Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s agent Christy Berry:

“Cozy almost means small, and we don’t have small. Everything is bigger in Texas,” she says.

Maybe it’s true: We do have some gigantic properties in Texas, but really, can Texas do “cozy” justice?

Joanna England is the Executive Editor at CandysDirt.com and covers the North Texas housing market.

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