The company has also decided not to grant a dividend to its shareholders for the first time in over a century as it hopes to keep adding to its corporate nest-egg.
Many real estate experts now believe that home ownership will never again yield rewards like those enjoyed in the second half of the 20th century, when houses not only provided shelter but also a plump nest egg.
Since the 19th century, biologists have been fascinated by the relationship between ontogeny (the development of an adult from a fertilised egg) and evolution.