A close look at the cost of building a new home
A close look at the cost of building a new home
Show Caption
Hide Caption
Baby Boomers buying more homes than Millennials
Move over, Millennials — Baby Boomers are now leading the way in the housing market. According to the National Association of Realtors, Americans aged 60 to 78 now make up 42% of homebuyers, compared to just 29% for Millennials — despite Millennials being the country's largest generation.
Fox - 5 NY
If you're in the market for a new home, you might wonder about the factors contributing to the home's total cost.
The National Association of Home Builders recently published a Cost of Construction Survey, which details the various costs of building a typical new single-family home. Many of the results show that the percentage contribution of each component has remained relatively consistent in recent years.
According to the 2024 survey of home builders, the biggest single component of a new home's total sales price is construction costs, which accounts for around 64.4%. For example, the sales price of a $665,298 house would likely factor in construction costs of approximately $428,215, or 64.4%.
Still nervous about homebuying in 2025? You're not alone: What buyers said in new survey
Survey respondents broke down construction costs into eight major construction stages:
Interior finishes (e.g., cabinets, drywall, flooring): 24.1%
Major system rough-ins (e.g. electrical, HVAC, plumbing): 19.2%
Framing: 16.6%
Exterior finishes (e.g., roofing, windows): 13.4%
Foundations: 10.5%
Site work (e.g., architecture, building/permit/impact fees): 7.6%
Final steps (e.g., driveway, landscaping): 6.5%
Other costs: 2.1%
The share of construction costs to the total price of a new home is the highest since NAHB first produced the survey in 1998. Some of the factors that contribute to the construction costs are the ongoing skilled labor shortages and building material price increases.
The average single-family home size in the 2024 survey was 2,647 square feet of finished floor space, an increase of 86 square feet from 2022. From 2015 to 2022, the average square footage of a home trended downward. Constructing homes with smaller square footage in recent years is a response by builders to meet the current housing affordability challenges buyers face.
Though building practices and the cost of labor, land and materials can vary widely across the country, these national averages provide an overall snapshot for the building industry.
Javan Yoder is 2025 president of the Building Industry Association of Stark & East Central Ohio
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
American Petroleum Institute says Oil & Gas Industry prepared for hurricane season
LAFAYETTE, La. () – was founded in 1919 and represents all segments of America's natural gas and oil industry, supporting nearly 11 million U.S. jobs and backed by millions of Americans. It's approximately 600 members produce, process, and distribute the majority of the nation's energy. The Gulf Coast Region Director of API, Gifford Briggs, tells me their members, including many in the Gulf of America are prepared for this hurricane season and what mother nature could bring. He's a native of south Louisiana and tells me Louisiana is vital to the country's energy dominance. 'The energy that's provided for this great country comes through the Gulf of America and Lafayette, Louisiana and through the arteries of Louisiana and through the many refineries as they pump the fuel across the nation,' said Briggs. With hurricanes affecting the Gulf each year, it's important for all of these companies stationed in the Gulf, or along the Gulf coast, to have a game plan, especially in terms of evacuating workers. These plans usually occur in steps. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now 'Non-essential personnel may be moved out a little bit earlier the essential personnel may stay a little bit later,' said Briggs. Briggs stresses the importance of safety, saying it's API's top priority. 'Many of our employees are people that work right here in Acadiana, so getting them to safety and off the platform is one thing, but they have families they need to take care of as well and we want to make sure our employees have every opportunity to do that as well,' added Briggs. These evacuations have an economic impact as production slows. The Gulf supplies nearly 17% of the nation's crude oil and 5% of the natural gas production. This means the next step is to get production moving as quickly as possible. 'We go through the steps we need to take to ensure the safety of the environment and safety of our employees and as soon as we can get back out to our facilities, we will do that in a safe manner,' explained Briggs. This is especially true if the Gulf is not the hardest hit area, as the Oil & Gas industry is crucial to helping our affected neighbors. 'We need to make sure we're making the fuel that's going to be needed as people prepare for the storm, but also helps people recover from the storm and our industry plays a critical role in ensuring a strong recovery for any storm affected area,' says Briggs. 48% of total U.S. Petroleum refining and 51% of U.S. natural gas processing is located along the Gulf coast. Attorneys for Kilmar Abrego Garcia argue for 'due process' in new court filing American Petroleum Institute says Oil & Gas Industry prepared for hurricane season Mother seeks justice after daughter fatally shot by close friend in Iberia Parish Saints conclude mandatory minicamp 'Immaturity': Rand Paul rips White House after being 'uninvited' from picnic Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Extending the Trump Tax Cuts Is a Good Idea. But It Won't Deliver 'Big, Beautiful' Economic Growth.
President Donald Trump and many of his allies in Congress are making grand claims about the economic growth they say will result from the recently proposed "One Big Beautiful Bill." Trump has accused critics of not understanding the budget proposal, "especially the tremendous GROWTH that is coming." A closer examination of the economic realities involved reveals that these claims are dramatically overstated. I have no objections on principles to extending the expiring provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Allowing these cuts to expire would deliver some measure of pain to the economy and add to our troubles. Tax hikes at a time when individuals and businesses are expecting tax stability would undoubtedly depress investment, employment, and overall economic confidence. Americans are already getting a huge tax hike because of Trump's tariffs. However, making a sound case for maintaining the current tax structure is fundamentally different from making the case that it will bring about substantial new growth. It's largely a defensive move. Realistically, the economic boost will be modest at best. In fact, the administration and congressional supporters of this bill admit that much without realizing it. On the Senate side, lawmakers argue that the fiscal cost of extending the 2017 tax cuts should be measured against today's tax code rather than against the code to which we would revert if the cuts automatically expire. They argue that assuming the cuts will be extended reflects the common expectation among taxpayers and markets. But if markets already expect extensions, then making the tax cuts permanent cannot generate significant additional economic growth. The growth that can be achieved by these tax cuts has largely been realized. Merely continuing with lower rates doesn't unleash many new incentives or productivity. In addition, the budget legislation does lots more than extend the 2017 tax cuts. In fact, about 25 percent of the bill consists of different tax breaks on tips or overtime, and spending hikes for the military and various special interests. These are not pro-growth policies—in addition to being expensive. The Tax Foundation estimates that the bill would raise economic output by approximately 0.8 percent in the long run. The Economic Policy Innovation Center analysis pegs the economic gain at around 0.5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). Both are far from the revolutionary 3 percent figures that Trump's most ardent fanboys are claiming. Moreover, most economic models don't adequately consider the negative consequences of ballooning federal debt on long-term growth. And according to the Congressional Budget Office, this bill will add a further $2.4 trillion to the debt. High levels of debt put upward pressure on interest rates, crowding out private investment and dampening long-term growth prospects. Historically, too much debt correlates with diminished economic performance. Whatever blip in the growth rate we will see thanks to the tax bill, it won't compensate for the damage done by the Trump administration's ongoing trade wars. Tariffs disrupt supplies, increase costs for American businesses and consumers, and create considerable economic uncertainty. Even if we generously assume that tax cuts will deliver an additional 0.5 percent to 0.8 percent in annual GDP growth, the drag from tariffs easily surpasses this modest benefit. The contradiction couldn't be clearer. Proponents of the bill and the president himself trumpet its growth-enhancing powers while simultaneously piling up debt and enacting trade policies that are both guaranteed to undermine economic dynamism. And yes, in addition to the expected opposition from Democrats, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and a few other voices from the right side of the aisle have been highlighting the bill's inadequacies, to the great displeasure of the president. Among other things, they point to its subsidies and other distorting economic interventions and accurately observe that the economic benefits being touted are inflated and misleading. Paul understands that a true pro-growth agenda would extend the tax provisions while limiting the debt impact by cutting wasteful spending, closing tax loopholes, and not loading the bill with lots of special-interest giveaways. The legislation is now in the hands of the Senate. If senators are interested in genuine and productive tax reform, they will scrap the new provisions and do 10-year extensions of pro-growth policies that are currently temporary in the legislation as passed by the House (such as 100 percent bonus depreciation and research-and-development expensing)—and they'd still be left with room to lower the cost. If they keep the spending offset included in the House bill and Medicaid reform, this would become both pro-growth and fiscally responsible legislation. Instead of indulging in the dangerous fantasy that any tax cuts will produce enormous growth, Congress needs to do the work and revise the bill so that it does produce growth and offsets the debt accumulation. COPYRIGHT 2025 The post Extending the Trump Tax Cuts Is a Good Idea. But It Won't Deliver 'Big, Beautiful' Economic Growth. appeared first on
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
EU could impose Russian oil price cap without US support, Kallas says
The European Union can impose an additional price cap on Russian oil without U.S. support, EU High Representative Kaja Kallas said at the Brussels Forum on June 11. "If you think about the oil going through the channels, it's mostly Europe, it's via the Baltic Sea, it's via the Black Sea. So even if the Americans are not on board, we can still do it and have an impact," Kallas said. The EU's 17th package of sanctions against Russia came into effect on May 20. The bloc is already working on its next wave of sanctions. The 18th EU sanctions package will include additional restrictions on energy, banking, oil, and other areas, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced on June 10. "What the intelligence tells is that, now the sanctions will (harder hit) the supply chains of Russia needed to really fund this war," Kallas said. "Of course, it is important the United States... is together with us, and we have been operating together for quite some time," she said. Kallas noted the Group of Seven (G7) oil price cap was previously agreed upon to be 5% below the market price. "It is important, of course, what we do together, but it is also equally important for us what we do alone, because we alone are also a player," Kallas said. Kallas noted the EU is still an ally to the U.S., but recognized the dynamic between the two powers is changing. "We still value the relationship... I think with the Americans we are not growing apart, but growing up in our relationships," Kallas said. The upcoming G7 summit will take place in Alberta, Canada. A wide range of topics, including Russia's war against Ukraine, are expected to be discussed at the annual event. President Volodymyr Zelensky previously confirmed he would be attending the G7 summit after receiving an invitation from Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. Read also: 'Ukrainians have been stripped of illusion of control' — Filmmaker Kateryna Gornostai on Russia's war, cinema and reclaiming the narrative We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
