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Building a house. Build now or wait to see if prices fall?

Posted on 2/14/19 at 11:06 am
Posted by cajuntiger26
Member since Jan 2013
338 posts
Posted on 2/14/19 at 11:06 am
So I have been planning on building a house for a couple years now. We recently acquired the land and have begun the research process.
Unfortunate construction prices seem to have gone up significantly over the past two years. Probably 15-20% from what I can tell. This is supposedly due an increase in material which is largely atrributed to tariffs.

Question:
Would we be better off waiting a year or two to see if these prices go down? Assuming at least some of these tariffs are permanent and will be renegotiated?

Or is my guess as good as anyone else’s on this?

Building in Lafayette by the way...and yes some of these prices are crazy.
This post was edited on 2/14/19 at 11:07 am
Posted by DFWgolfer318
Member since Feb 2019
135 posts
Posted on 2/14/19 at 11:19 am to
quote:

This is supposedly due an increase in material which is largely atrributed to tariffs.


No its not.

quote:

Would we be better off waiting a year or two to see if these prices go down?


Counting on deflation doesn't seem like a sound strategy to me. Labor is the reason for price increases. There's more jobs than workers causing prices to rise. Could the price of labor go down due to less demand in the next couple of years? Maybe, but that's entirely speculative and interest rates aren't going to go down in that time frame.
Posted by hungryone
river parishes
Member since Sep 2010
11987 posts
Posted on 2/14/19 at 11:58 am to
Prices will not fall dramatically, either in materials or labor. Keep looking until you find an honest contractor who you can trust....one who will help guide you with making cost effective choices. Some plans are more expensive to build than others--open your mind about shape/size/materials choices rather than go pie-in-the-sky and picking "dream home" stuff. It's a house....you are likely to sell it & buy another before you kick the bucket. Don't get overly emotional about the process, and you will save money.
Posted by deeprig9
Unincorporated Ozora, Georgia
Member since Sep 2012
64575 posts
Posted on 2/14/19 at 12:21 pm to
What I have noticed around Georgia over the decades is that home prices go up and down, but construction prices just seem to go more steadily higher.


Red- Home Value
Blue- Construction Costs

Posted by SLIMNOLA
NOLA
Member since Dec 2013
55 posts
Posted on 2/14/19 at 2:03 pm to
The cost of building a house will continue to rise. That is just inflation. Tariffs does have an impact but it's minimal. My question to you is, how custom do you want your house to be? Two different people can build the exact same house but one can be $100k more in custom upgrades.

Some of the other items that can drive your cost up. Do you need pilings, are you doing tall ceilings, etc.

I'm 50% into a house build and the little items adds up...
This post was edited on 2/14/19 at 2:04 pm
Posted by Shankopotomus
Social Distanced
Member since Feb 2009
21057 posts
Posted on 2/14/19 at 2:22 pm to
there are never guarantees in either direction .... so waiting is usually a mistake IF the main purpose is to "save" when prices go down, values, cost of materials etc.

You have to bite the bullet and know that inflation is not on your side
Posted by tigers1988
lafayette
Member since Aug 2008
236 posts
Posted on 2/14/19 at 4:01 pm to
I'm a construction lender in Lafayette. Home building cost seem to keep raising. Mostly depends on who the builder is and how plush you want the home.
Posted by kywildcatfanone
Wildcat Country!
Member since Oct 2012
119960 posts
Posted on 2/14/19 at 4:15 pm to
I'm getting a plan finalized now, already purchased my lot. Talked to one builder with his plan, and he was $195/sq ft.

I'm hoping and praying I can build for around $150/sq ft.
Posted by Hamma1122
Member since Sep 2016
19917 posts
Posted on 2/14/19 at 5:31 pm to
Build now costs aren’t going down
Posted by saderade
America's City
Member since Jul 2005
25761 posts
Posted on 2/14/19 at 9:42 pm to
Pay someone a flat fee to oversee the build and sub it out yourself. You can take your time throughout the whole process and should be able to build it for a decent price. This will obviously be more time consuming.
Posted by geauxpurple
New Orleans
Member since Jul 2014
12735 posts
Posted on 2/18/19 at 10:18 pm to
Don't hold your breath on building costs going down.
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