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18 States Where It’s Cheaper To Build Than Buy a Home

May 13, 2023

3 min Read

Written by Gabrielle Olya

Edited by Molly Sullivan

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With home prices and construction costs both at high levels, it can be hard to determine whether buying an existing home or building a new one is the most cost-effective option. While it’s usually cheaper to buy a home than build one from scratch, in some states — especially in places where demand for homes greatly outweighs the supply — the opposite is true.

StorageCafe analyzed the costs associated with both buying and building a home in each U.S. state and found the 18 states where it’s currently cheaper to build. Many of these states are concentrated in the West and South Atlantic, and in one state, it’s now nearly $500,000 cheaper to build than buy.

See the states where new construction is the cheaper route to home ownership.

18. New York

Total building costs: $524,000
Median single-family home listing price: $535,000
Difference in building vs. buying costs: -$11,000

17. Tennessee

Total building costs: $361,000
Median single-family home listing price: $374,000
Difference in building vs. buying costs: -$13,000

16. Georgia

Total building costs: $365,000
Median single-family home listing price: $395,000
Difference in building vs. buying costs: -$30,000

15. North Carolina

Total building costs: $363,000
Median single-family home listing price: $395,000
Difference in building vs. buying costs: -$32,000

14. Oregon

Total building costs: $502,000
Median single-family home listing price: $545,000
Difference in building vs. buying costs: -$43,000

13. Texas

Total building costs: $361,000
Median single-family home listing price: $412,000
Difference in building vs. buying costs: -$51,000

12. Massachusetts

Total building costs: $576,000
Median single-family home listing price: $629,000
Difference in building vs. buying costs: -$53,000

11. Washington

Total building costs: $493,000
Median single-family home listing price: $559,000
Difference in building vs. buying costs: -$66,000

10. Idaho

Total building costs: $505,000
Median single-family home listing price: $575,000
Difference in building vs. buying costs: -$70,000

9. Florida

Total building costs: $375,000
Median single-family home listing price: $451,000
Difference in building vs. buying costs: -$76,000

8. Montana

Total building costs: $515,000
Median single-family home listing price: $599,000
Difference in building vs. buying costs: -$84,000

7. Maryland

Total building costs: $365,000
Median single-family home listing price: $460,000
Difference in building vs. buying costs: -$95,000

6. Delaware

Total building costs: $394,000
Median single-family home listing price: $490,000
Difference in building vs. buying costs: -$96,000

5. Virginia

Total building costs: $361,000
Median single-family home listing price: $458,000
Difference in building vs. buying costs: -$96,000

4. Utah

Total building costs: $538,000
Median single-family home listing price: $635,000
Difference in building vs. buying costs: -$97,000

3. Colorado

Total building costs: $492,000
Median single-family home listing price: $600,000
Difference in building vs. buying costs: -$108,000

2. California

Total building costs: $495,000
Median single-family home listing price: $700,000
Difference in building vs. buying costs: -$205,000

1. Hawaii

Total building costs: $551,000
Median single-family home listing price: $1,045,000
Difference in building vs. buying costs: -$494,000

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All data is sourced from StorageCafe and is accurate as of Feb. 22, 2023.

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