Building Costs Per Square Foot in the State of Massachusetts – Single Family Homes

Last Updated on April 8, 2024 by admin

(Completed in 2022) A newly-built 3 Bedroom House with 2.5 Bathrooms and 2 Attached Garages, Gross Floor Area 2400 sqft – on 30 Sandy Hill Road, Raynham, Massachussetts – Price $699,900

As of 2024, building costs in the state of Massachusetts are 13% above the national average. The charts below show a comparison of costs between luxury, semi-luxury, best, good, average and minimum standard single-family houses. Costs are also given for manufactured housing in five quality classes.

2024 Building Costs Per Square Foot for Single Family Homes in the State of Massachusetts, USA

• Class 1 – Luxury Homes – $475.72 to $687.12 per sqft
• Class 2 – Semi Luxury Homes – $289.13 to $417.59 per sqft
• Class 3 – Best Standard Homes – $186.62 to $267.48 per sqft
• Class 4 – Good Standard Homes – $136.40 to $197.08 per sqft
• Class 5 – Average Standard Homes – $110.71 to $159.77 per sqft
• Class 6 – Minimum Standard  Homes – $87.34 to $126.12 per sqft

Massachusetts Single Family Houses 2024 Building Costs

2024 Building Costs Per Square Foot for Manufactured Housing in the State of Massachusetts, USA

Manufactured housing is composed of one or more prefabricated modular units which are delivered to the site and assembled on a RC foundation or slab.

• Best Quality Housing – $161.92 to $181.81 per sqft
• Good Quality Housing – $137.26 to $160.40 per sqft
• Average Quality Housing – $112.33 to $139.69 per sqft
• Low Average Quality Housing – $95.49 to $121.71 per sqft
• Lowest Quality Housing – $82.39 to $107.67 per sqft 

Massachusetts Manufactured Housing 2024 Building Costs

Residential Construction Market Analysis in the State of Massachusetts, USA

Building costs are 12% above the national average in the state of Massachusetts and equivalent to the District of Columbia (DC). It’s the 3^rd most expensive state to build a house in the USA. Everyone wants to have their own house, but unfortunately, there are times when the real estate market makes things difficult for us. From rising prices to falling property supply, there are hundreds of factors that can harm us, so it is important to be prepared and know what we are facing.

Here we will talk about the case of Massachusetts, one of the most important states in the United States and with great diversity in terms of real estate projects and their situation. This article will be of great help if you want to know more about the world of residential house construction in this state, and a general overview of how the real estate market is here.

Massachusetts Construction Outlook

Massachusetts is one of the states located in what is known as the New England region (because of its colonial past), which is in the northeast of the country. It has just over 7 million inhabitants, which doesn’t sound like much, but it has one of the highest population densities in the entire country (240 people per square kilometer).

This gives us the guideline that in this state you will find a large number of people even in a small space, which translates into many buildings. In any case, it is a varied state in terms of residences to live in. Although in cities like Boston mostly buildings abound, if you go to the outskirts you will find large houses with two floors (or more), or the typical American-style houses.

Massachusetts used to be the colonial center of the United States along with New York, so you will see many buildings that even today retain that colonial style. Especially in towns like Salem, where the large wooden houses remain, and some are even protected as historical heritage since the trials and the murder of the alleged witches were carried out there.

This is not to say that everything is super old or vintage. In Boston, among the buildings for university residents that have an eighties style (red bricks everywhere!), there are also the most modern buildings or skyscrapers in the whole country. Undoubtedly, Massachusetts is a paradise for architects (or lovers of architecture and good buildings), since it has great diversity on multiple levels.

Massachusetts Housing Market Analysis

Massachusetts is a place that has historically done well when it comes to real estate. It is very rare that it drops in value since every year many new people come to live in the state. This is seen above all because it is a state that has the best universities or higher educational centers (MIT, Harvard, UMass, etc.). So it constantly receives university students, who once they finish their studies, most of them choose to build their house in this state.

This shows us that it is a prosperous state in what has to do with education and work, always attracting new people, now what matters to us at this point are the different market estimates. Experts believe that in the next year the values ​​of Massachusetts homes (or the different lands and properties), may reach a 15% increase, and this increase could reach 30% in some areas of Boston, especially those close to the universities. This is related to the return to present at work and at school, which are the two areas that make this state stand out.

Properties for sale in Massachusetts tend to sell like hotcakes, in fact, it is one of the states in the entire country where houses are sold the fastest. They usually take less than 3 months to sell, which as a standard number is surprising.

Massachusetts Average House Price (Median Home Price)

The prices of homes in Massachusetts are higher than those of other states, this is because it is a fairly safe state (in terms of the number of criminal events that happen daily, it is very low), and it has at best educational district in the country. All this that makes it a desired state also makes it an expensive state.

An average house, with a maximum of 3 bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a garage, all in average size, without luxurious materials or equipment, can cost up to $450,000, although it is more likely that in the outskirts of Boston the price drop to $350,000.

If you build the house yourself, you will probably find different ways to save, such as doing part of the work yourself or choosing a cheap piece of land to build on. You can also build with sustainable materials, although it is always important that you review the official recommendations issued by the government of the state of Massachusetts since there are usually strong storms that hit the region.

Massachusetts Residential Building Projects

The city of Lynn, located in Massachusetts, is one of the cities that attracts the most attention from investors. This city used to be a small town, but now it is full of real estate projects, mostly related to residential buildings. If you visit that city you will find several areas under construction, carried out by different construction companies or groups of investors, so without a doubt, it is a focus that will give people something to talk about.

One of the projects that is coming with the greatest strength and that captures the interest of numerous investors is located on Munroe Street, one of the most beautiful in the city. A building is being built here that will have 10 floors and will have space for more than 400 people to live here. This is the type of standard project in the cities of Massachusetts: buildings with a maximum of 15 floors but with a large number of apartments to house families or university students.

(Completed in 2022 ) A newly-built Three-Storey 4 Bedroom House with 2.5 Bathrooms and 2
Attached Garages, Gross Floor Area 2400 sqft – on 111 Dunbar Street,
Taunton, Massachussets – Price $675,000

2020 Building Costs Per Square Foot for Single Family Homes in the State of Massachusetts, USA

Class 1 – Luxury Single Family Homes

The building cost per square foot for luxury private homes in Massachusetts ranges from $386.28 per sqft to $592.14 per sqft, with the average being $455.86 per sqft. As the bar chart shows below, bigger homes with a large gross floor area have the lowest building costs per ft2, and smaller homes with a small gross floor area have the highest building costs per ft2. Medium-sized homes are somewhere in between. Generally, the building cost per square foot decreases as the size of the house gets bigger, and increases as the house gets smaller.

Class 2 – Semi Luxury Single Family Homes

The building cost per square foot for semi-luxury private homes in Massachusetts ranges from $234.76 per sqft to $359.86 per sqft, with the average being $277.04 per sqft. As the bar chart shows below, bigger homes with a large gross floor area have the lowest building costs per ft2, and smaller homes with a small gross floor area have the highest building costs per ft2. Medium-sized homes are somewhere in between. Generally, the building cost per square foot decreases as the size of the house gets bigger, and increases as the house gets smaller.

Class 3 – Best Standard Single Family Homes

The building cost per square foot for best-standard private homes in Massachusetts ranges from $151.76 per sqft to $230.51 per sqft, with the average being $177.68 per sqft. As the bar chart shows below, bigger homes with a large gross floor area have the lowest building costs per ft2, and smaller homes with a small gross floor area have the highest building costs per ft2. Medium-sized homes are somewhere in between. Generally, the building cost per square foot decreases as the size of the house gets bigger, and increases as the house gets smaller.

Class 4 – Good Standard Single Family Homes

The building cost per square foot for good-standard private homes in Massachusetts ranges from $110.76 per sqft to $169.85 per sqft, with the average being $130.71 per sqft. As the bar graph shows below, bigger homes with a large gross floor area have the lowest building costs per ft2, and smaller homes with a small gross floor area have the highest building costs per ft2. Medium-sized homes are somewhere in between. Generally, the building cost per square foot decreases as the size of the house gets bigger, and increases as the house gets smaller.

Class 5 – Average Standard Single Family Homes

The building cost per square foot for average-standard private homes in Massachusetts ranges from $89.90 per sqft to $137.68 per sqft, with the average being $106.01 per sqft. As the bar graph shows below, bigger homes with a large gross floor area have the lowest building costs per ft2, and smaller homes with a small gross floor area have the highest building costs per ft2. Medium-sized homes are somewhere in between. Generally, the building cost per square foot decreases as the size of the house gets bigger, and increases as the house gets smaller.

Class 6 – Minimum Standard Single Family Homes

The building cost per square foot for minimum-standard private homes in Massachusetts ranges from $70.91 per sqft to $108.68 per sqft, with the average being $83.65 per sqft. As the bar graph shows below, bigger homes with a large gross floor area have the lowest building costs per ft2, and smaller homes with a small gross floor area have the highest building costs per ft2. Medium-sized homes are somewhere in between. Generally, the building cost per square foot decreases as the size of the house gets bigger, and increases as the house gets smaller.

List of 13 Metropolitan Areas/Cities in Massachusetts – Percentage Deviation of the City/Town Building Cost from the National Average ($X), in Descending Order:

There are 351 municipalities grouped into 14 counties in the state of Massachusetts. The bar chart below indicates that building costs vary in each metro city/town. The construction cost per square foot in each of these metropolitan cities varies from the state and national average by a certain percentage based on the location factor also known as the local modifier.

The percentage deviation of building costs from the National Average for each metropolitan area in Massachusetts is shown below.

If $X is the Average National Building Cost in the USA, then it will cost the following to build a residential property in each metro city/town in Massachusetts:

Massachusetts Average 12% (12% more than X)

• Northfield 013 2%
• Cape Cod 026 4%
• Ayer 015-016 6%
• New Bedford 027 6%
• Chicopee 010 7%
• Nantucket 025 9%
• Fitchburg 014 11%
• Lawrence 018 14%
• Bedford 017 15%
• Dedham 019 18%
• Hingham 020 19%
• Brockton 023-024 20%
• Boston 021-022 37%

The Metropolitan Area List above as well as the Bar Graphs below shows that Northfield is the cheapest city to build a private home in the state of Massachusetts, and Boston is the most expensive city to build a home. Building costs are 2% above the national average in Northfield and 37% above the national average in Boston.

Cheapest Places To Build in Massachusetts:

Northfield is the cheapest to place to build at 2% above the national average, followed by Cape Cod City at 4%.

Expensive Places To Build in Massachusetts:

If anything between 5% and 10% is considered expensive, then there are 4 such metropolitan areas in the state of Massachusetts. Building costs in the city of Ayer and New Bedford are 6% above the national average.  The cost of building a home in Chicopee is 7% above the US average. Nantucket is 9% above the USA average.

More Expensive Places To Build in Massachusetts:

If anything between 10% and 15% is considered more expensive, then there are 2 such metropolitan area in the state of Massachusetts. Building costs in the City of Fitchburg are 11% above the national average. Building a home in the City of Lawrence is 14% above the US average.

Very Expensive Places To Build in Massachusetts

The most expensive places to build a house in the USA are those which are 15% + above the national average. There are 5 such places in Massachusetts. Building costs in the City of Bedford are 15% above the national average. Building a home in the City of Dedham is 18% above the US average. It will cost you 19% more than the national average to build a home in Hingham. Brockton is the second most expensive city to build a house in the state, at 20% above the national average. Boston is the most expensive city to build a home at 37% above the national average.

Massachusetts State Average Costs:

Private home building costs in the state of Massachusetts are 12% above the US average. Building cost rates in the metropolitan area of Fitchburg are closer to the Massachusetts state average by a deviation of 1%. Boston is the most expensive city to build a home in Massachusetts. The state of Massachusetts is number 48 on the national ascending costs scale and the 3^rd most expensive state in the USA.