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

Last Updated on April 8, 2024 by admin

Completed in 2022. A newly-built 3 Bedroom House with 2 Bathrooms and 3 x Attached Garages, Gross Floor Area 3,680 sqft – on 60839 Lake Spokane Drive, Nine Mile Falls, Washington – Price $739,900

As of 2024, building costs in the state of Washington are equivalent to 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 Washington, USA

• Class 1 – Luxury Homes – $396.67 to $608.07 per sqft
• Class 2 – Semi Luxury Homes – $241.09 to $369.55 per sqft
• Class 3 – Best Standard Homes – $155.85 to $236.71 per sqft
• Class 4 – Good Standard Homes – $113.73 to $174.41 per sqft
• Class 5 – Average Standard Homes – $92.33 to $141.39 per sqft
• Class 6 – Minimum Standard  Homes – $72.83 to $111.61 per sqft

Washington Single Family Houses 2024 Building Costs

2024 Building Costs Per Square Foot for Manufactured Housing in the State of Washington, 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 – $141 to $160.89 per sqft
• Good Quality Housing – $118.81 to $141.95 per sqft
• Average Quality Housing – $96.26 to $123.62 per sqft
• Low Average Quality Housing – $81.49 to $107.71 per sqft
• Lowest Quality Housing – $70 to $95.28 per sqft

Washington Manufactured Housing 2024 Building Costs

Residential Construction Market Analysis in the State of Washington, USA

Building costs in the state of Washington are equivalent to the national average, state of Ohio, Kansas and Wisconsin. Building a house from scratch is a unique adventure, but it has certain peculiarities depending on where you are. In addition, there are certain key variables to know if it is really possible to build a house in a place, such as the price of materials, the supply of land for construction, the laws of each place, and the state of the real estate market.

That is why we bring you this article where we will focus mainly on the residential construction market in Washington DC. If you are interested in building in this area or if you just want to know a little more, then continue scrolling down this article. Remember that Washington DC is not only a strategic place because it borders Canada, but it is one of the places in the country that attracts the largest number of people from all over the world, so it is a perfect opportunity to live in the center of the world or to invest in real estate projects there.

Washington DC Construction Outlook

Washington DC, as it is officially known as the District of Columbia, is the federal capital of the United States, which makes it unique compared to other cities in the United States. You likely know some things about this city, such as the fact that the Capitol, the White House, among other iconic places in North America are located here, but you may not know much about the real estate market.

People often associate Washington with the government, foreign embassies, and office buildings everywhere. While this is true, it is also true that Washington has a fantastic residential area with some of the most beautiful homes in the entire country, with a first-class school district.

If you are looking for real estate projects to invest in, this is a great city since many diplomats or leaders from other countries live here. This means that they are people who have money and are willing to pay whatever it takes to have a home here. We will go into real estate projects later.

Now if what you want is to live here, it’s a bit expensive state to build. Especially if your job has nothing to do with government tasks. This does not make it a bad place, on the contrary, it is just a little more expensive compared to other states. In addition, Washington has specific regulations for construction, and these must be followed to the letter. Keep in mind that although you have to respect the law everywhere, in Washington it is something that happens with more pressure since you have the law enforcers close to your home.

In the United States, they know that Washington is the place that the leaders of the world really look at, that is why there are some aesthetic construction norms even in residential neighborhoods. This has to do mainly with the facades of homes. It does not matter what style you want them to have (modern, colonial, etc.) but it does matter that they are in impeccable condition.

Washington DC Housing Market Analysis

Washington DC is one of the few places in the world whose housing market has not been negatively affected by the pandemic. Of course, it could have been a better performance, but it wasn’t bad at all. Even in 2020 when the pandemic hit hardest, and when the United States was preparing for the presidential elections, the real estate market continued to prosper.

In Washington, there is a constant demand and offer of properties, so it is always a good time to invest or build. This constant movement of people is due to the fact that government officials, politicians, ambassadors, etc. usually live in residential areas. So they’re constantly moving around, and maybe they won’t stay in Washington forever. This means that even large houses are rented for short periods of time, something that does not usually happen in other large cities in the country.

Within the real estate market in Washington DC, luxury houses or large houses are the ones that sell the fastest and the most people want to buy. In second place are the apartments in central areas, although these are usually rented rather than bought.

Houses for families usually take up to 6 months to sell, it is rare that they are longer in the real estate market due to the aforementioned demand. Houses in Washington are worth approximately $15,000 more than in other cities in the United States that have the same characteristics.

Washington DC Average House Price (Median Home Price)

Home values ​​in Washington DC are fairly stable. If you are looking to build in a residential area, then a house with 4 bedrooms, a new state-of-the-art kitchen, a garage, 3 bathrooms, and a comfortable living room can cost up to $600,000. All this taking into account that it would be a quite luxurious house. We chose this parameter since it is the most common type of house in the central and residential areas of the city. In any case, if you are in a more modest neighborhood, and choose cheaper materials or equip your kitchen with things you already have in your house, then the price can drop to $350,000.

The houses already built usually sell for a standard value of $560,000, although this can vary depending on the quality and whether it is a luxurious house or not.

Washington DC Residential Building Projects

A trend that is happening in different real estate projects in Washington is to transform office buildings into residential buildings. This is because more and more people work from home, so there is no need for those giant buildings with hundreds of offices.

An example of this is the case of the project promoted by the firm Foulger-Pratt. This firm did similar work in New York and is now embarking on this journey a few blocks from the White House. The apartments here will be like those of any residential building since the place was completely modified to make it habitable for people, and not feel like a workplace or office.

Under Construction and Nearing completion in 2022.Newly-built 3 Bedroom House with 3 Bathrooms and 2 x Garage Spaces, Gross Floor Area 1,632 sqft – on 191501 S Mitchell Street, Plymouth, Washington – Price $386,500

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

Class 1 – Luxury Single Family Homes

The building cost per square foot for luxury private homes in Washington ranges from $344.89 per sqft to $528.70 per sqft, with the average being $407.02 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 Washington ranges from $209.61 per sqft to $321.30 per sqft, with the average being $247.36 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 Washington ranges from $135.50 per sqft to $205.81 per sqft, with the average being $158.64 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 Washington ranges from $98.89 per sqft to $151.65 per sqft, with the average being $116.71 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 Washington ranges from $80.27 per sqft to $122.93 per sqft, with the average being $94.65 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.

Class 6 – Minimum Standard Single Family Homes

The building cost per square foot for minimum-standard private homes in Washington ranges from $63.31 per sqft to $97.04 per sqft, with the average being $74.68 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 10 Metropolitan Areas/Cities in Washington  – Percentage Deviation of the City/Town Building Cost from the National Average ($X), in Descending Order:

There are 281 municipalities grouped into 39 counties in the state of Washington. 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 Washington 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 Washington:

Washington  Average 0% (0% more than X)

• Clarkston 994 -8%
• Wenatchee 988 -6%
• Yakima 989 -5%
• Spokane 990-992 -3%
• Olympia 985 -2%
• Pasco 993 1%
• Everett 982 2%
• Tacoma 983-984 2%
• Vancouver 986 3%
• Seattle 980-981 11%

The Metropolitan Area List above as well as the Bar Graphs below indicate that Clarkson is the cheapest city to build a private home in the state of Washington, and Seattle is the most expensive city to build a home. Building costs are -8% below the national average in Clarkson and 11% above the national average in Seattle.

Cheapest Places To Build in Washington :

Clarkson is cheapest to place to build at -8% below the national average, followed by Wenatchee at 6% below the national average. The third cheapest place to build a house is Yakima at -5% below the national average, followed by Spokane at -3% below the national average. The fifth cheapest place to build is Olympia at -2% below the national average, followed by Pasco at 1% above the national average. Building costs in Everett and Tacoma are 2% above the US average. Residential building costs in the City of Vancouver are 3% above the US average.

Expensive Places To Build in Washington :

If anything between 5% and 10% is considered expensive, then there are no such metropolitan areas in the state of Washington.

More Expensive Places To Build in Washington :

If anything between 10% and 15% is considered more expensive, then there is one such metropolitan area in state of Washington. Home building costs in the City of Seattle are 11% above the national average

Very Expensive Places To Build in Washington :

The most expensive places to build a house in the USA are those 15% above the national average. There are no such places in Washington.

Washington  State Average Costs:

Private home building costs in the state of Washington are equal to the national average. Building cost rates in the metropolitan area of Pasco are closer to the Washington state average by a deviation of 1%. Seattle is the most expensive city to build a home in Washington, and the state of Washington is number 31 on the national ascending costs scale.