Financial Information

New Home Construction Cost Breakdown

Many people simply do not realize just how much goes into building a new house. We are going to breakdown the many different costs of physically constructing a new home. You will see that in some areas the price is driven by expensive raw materials and in other construction categories it is because of labor requirements. We hope this helps you to better understand new home construction costs and avoid being surprised with unexpected construction costs.

Framing $28,000
Not surprisingly, the most expensive part of home construction is the framing. Good quality wood is not cheap and you need a lot of it. On average, it costs about $28,000 to handle all of the framing, trusses and sheathing. The frame is the thick wood studs that form the walls. The trusses are the supports that hold up the roof and the sheathing is the wood sheets that cover everything to make it looks nice.

Foundation $17,000
Many things in life are "dirt cheap" but dirt is not one of them. Before you can build your house frame, you need to excavate a lot of dirt to have room to build a strong foundation for your home. Once the foundation is completed, you need it "backfilled". This is the process of putting dirt back around the foundation to help support it and to make sure rainwater flows away from the house. Moving all of this dirt and building the foundation is not cheap and is the second most expensive item averaging about $17,000.

Landscaping $11,500
The third most expensive part of new home construction is the landscaping. This includes creating a new lawn since any grass that was there was ruined when they were excavating to build the foundation. Landscaping also includes creating a new driveway so you have a place to park when you arrive at your new home and an outdoor deck to enjoy your brand new lawn. On average, all of this exterior work costs about $11,500.

Windows and Doors $11,000
Every home needs quality windows and doors. Exterior doors are much more expensive than interior doors. You will also want energy efficient windows to allow the sunlight into your house while keeping your energy bills low. It does take some labor to install the windows and doors but the big part of this cost is the actual building material. On average, you can expect to spend about $11,000 adding windows and doors to a new home.

Plumbing $11,000
It sure is nice to turn on a faucet and have hot water or to flush a toilet. Installing all of the water pipes and plumbing throughout the entire house takes a good bit of work. Not to mention the cost of the raw materials has dramatically gone up in the last ten years. This work combined the increase of raw material prices makes plumbing on average the fourth highest cost of constructing a home at about $11,000.

Cabinets and Countertops $10,500
Good workmanship is not cheap and that is why cabinets and countertops are the fifth highest cost for a new home. These items are generally made out of higher quality material like maple cabinets or marble countertops. These raw materials are not cheap and it takes skilled labor to turn them into beautifully polished cabinets and countertops. On average, this will cost about $10,500 for each new home.

Electrical $10,000
Every new house needs safe electrical power throughout all of the rooms. Running the electrical wiring throughout all the rooms and hooking it up to the power outlets and light fixtures is no small task. Luckily, this task is a little less costly than the plumbing. For an average sized new home, this will cost about $10,000.

Siding $9,000
Once the exterior walls are built they will need siding added to them. The cost of the siding material is not cheap but that is because it is built to last a long time and protect your home, not to mention it is designed to help make your home look even more attractive. The price tag for siding will be about $9,000.

HVAC $9,000
Do you like your home to be warm in the winter and cool in the summer? Then your new home is going to need a lot of heating, ventilation and air conditioning work. This is a bit of labor intensive placing the air vents in all rooms and properly connecting them. Not to mention the new heating and air conditioning units are very energy efficient and sophisticated which makes the equipment cost considerable. In all you are looking to spend about $9,000 for the HVAC on a new home.

Drywall $8,000
You have beautiful siding on the exterior walls but what do you have on your interior walls? This is where the drywall comes in. Screwing the drywall up and then having a specialist come in and tape all of the seams to be perfectly smooth takes a good amount of labor. Labor is a big reason you can expect to spend about $8,000 on the drywall material and installation for a new home.

Flooring $8,000
With the walls coming along it is time to consider the floors. Hardwood flooring can be a very expensive material to buy. Carpeting can be less expensive. You can also consider some tile work like for the bathroom floors. Between the hardwood floors, carpeting and tile work you can expect to pay about $8,000 for the materials and labor.

Painting $6,000
It is nice that the drywall has given you smooth walls but no one want to look at unfinished walls so the walls will need to be painted. Good quality paint can run more than $50 a can and a room will need multiple cans of paint. You will also want an experienced painter working on your rooms to make sure the paint job looks professional. The materials and labor of painting will cost about $6000 for an average new home.

Roofing $6,000
Let us not forget to take care of the roof. You will need quality roof shingles, which are very expensive but will last you a generation. You will also want to add gutters and downspouts to keep the rainwater away from your house and protect your foundation. Between the expensive product cost of the roof shingles and the labor of installing gutters, you can expect to pay about $6,000 on an average new home.

Other $39,000
There are many other required items that go into constructing a new home, like paying for the building permit and other local fees (about $5,000). In addition, you will need a stove, refrigerator and other appliances (about $4,000). Let's not forget the wall trim and other finishing touches (about $4,000). Then you need to add insulation to keep your house warm (about $3,500). Have a two story home? You will need a staircase (about $1,000). There are countless other necessary items that will add up (about $21,500). When you add up all of these other charges, you will be looking at a price of $39,000 for all of these loose ends.

On average, you can expect to pay a price of $184,000 just for the building materials and specialized labor needed to construct a new home. Please remember that these cost estimates can vary depending on the size of your home, your geographical area, your personal preferences and other factors. Also, remember that these costs are just for the construction process of a new home. On average, this accounts for only 60% of the sale price for a new home. It does not include the cost of buying the land, financing or overhead. It does not even include any profit for the general contractor who is responsible for managing everything which is no small task.