How Much Does It Cost To Build a Home In Chester County Pennsylvania?
With the recent increase in building supplies, many of our clients are asking the important question, "How much does it cost to build a home in Chester County PA?"
Homebuilding has been running around $250 per square foot for a standard home package and higher-end homes can run $350 per square foot, and we expect those numbers to continue to creep up accordingly. A sheet of standard 7/16 OSB Sheathing, that once sold for $10 per sheet, was up to $29 and some retailers have posted prices as high as $43 per sheet, and the price of the zip sheathing systems and similar which started at a higher price point, have increased as well.
Lumber prices have skyrocketed more than 180% since last spring, and this price spike has caused the price of an average new single-family home to increase by $24,386 since April 17, 2020, according to NAHB standard estimates of lumber used to build the average home. Similarly, the market value of the average new multifamily home has increased by $8,998 over the same period due to the surge in lumber prices.
The latest Random Lengths prices as of mid-February show the price of framing lumber topped $975 per thousand board feet — a 180% increase since last April when the price was roughly $350 per thousand board feet.
NAHB calculated these average home price increases based on the softwood lumber that goes into the average new home, as captured in the Builder Practices Survey conducted by Home Innovation Research Labs. Included are any softwood used in structural framing (including beams, joists, headers, rafters, and trusses), sheathing, flooring and underlayment, interior wall and ceiling finishing, cabinets, doors, windows, roofing, siding, soffit and fascia, and exterior features such as garages, porches, decks, railing, fences and landscape walls.
The softwood products considered include lumber of various dimensions (including any that may be appearance grade or pressure treated for outdoor use), plywood, OSB, particleboard, fiberboard, shakes, and shingles — in short, any of the products sold by U.S. sawmills and tracked weekly by Random Lengths.
With new energy codes coming out, your HVAC costs, windows, and insulation will be going up as well. Some costs are likely to reach 6k to 10k a home. On top of that, increased energy costs will impact all areas from logging and manufacturing to transportation and distribution.
What's the bottom line?
If you are planning to build a house, we need to get started sooner, rather than later. The already increased costs due to the global manufacturing shutdown of, 2020 will continue to climb in 2021 and into 2022 as the price of oil increases in response to changes in the energy policy coming out of Washington DC.
We bring value by working with an architect who designs custom homes not only to be beautiful and energy-efficient but also has a focus on efficient use of building materials.
What type of work does COPE provide? Our team is experienced in all manner of new home design and construction, additions, garages, renovations and remodels, along with all types of home repairs. We can assist you with Kitchens, Bathrooms, Finished Basements, New Construction, Custom Homes, Drywall, Plumbing, Electrical work, Windows, Doors, Siding, Roofing, Exteriors, mysterious water leaks and more... What Problem can we SOLVE for you?
We're your local team! When we're finished, you'll be proud to say, "it's not just done... It's #CopeBUILT!
COPE Construction and Renovation is a registered and insured Pennsylvania Home Improvement Contractor. PA88078. We look forward to serving you soon!