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What Makes Housing So Expensive?
- babelthuap 3y ago[dead]
- worldvoyageur 3y agoA typical American 1600 square foot single detached home costs $180K to build (~$122/square foot). Costs beyond that: - the land underneath the home, which can be expensive or cheap, depending on location. Land costs are consistently in the order of 25% of the total cost. - construction costs tend to be higher in more expensive locations (New Tork City) - financing costs, $12K - real estate/marketing fees, $27K - builder profit, $60K - permits and inspections, $19.2K - architecture and engineering, $5K Most significant is that about 125 million Americans live in a place where the land cost is more than 50% of the total cost and 16 million live in a place where the land share is greater than 70%. In those places, lower costs come from allowing greater density, which divides the land cost among a much greater number of housing units.