Indeed. I had any number of friends who bought the biggest house they could afford, because that was what you were 'supposed to do', only to be buried by the cost of filling a 4000+ sq ft monstrosity with enough 'stuff' that it didn't look empty, then heating/cooling, cleaning, etc. all that 'stuff'. I know some of those folks have rooms that a decade or two down the line that they've opened the door to less that a dozen times, much less ever used for anything more than a place to pile stuff out of the way.
Honestly, that's a huge advantage of a house: you can keep the stuff you might use. I'm in a small apartment downtown -- great location -- but if my wife and I both want to keep a bike then we're out of luck.
Plus well located apartments aren't so great during COVID.
"a house is ... a pile of stuff with a cover on it".