If you’ve come for the big reveal, you have come to the right place.
How much does it really cost to build a house in 2023/24?
Let’s get right into it.
First of all, I am not talking about just the build costs here. I will be including the mortgage costs while building, the architect costs, the council lodgement fees, and so on. The whole lot. To me, it is disingenuous to not include costs outside of the actual build. Because there is no new build house without all the other costs. It doesn’t happen. So if a cost incurred is a required part of the build, it is included here. I’ll also round costs to the nearest $10. I mean when spending this much money I don’t think anyone is too concerned if I am a few dollars or cents off. Right?
Description of the house
First, a bit about the house so you can get some perspective on the money spent.
Our vision was for a large house for our family to grow into. We wanted a functional house where everything had its place. Of upmost importance was a warm dry home that did not overheat in summer or get too cold in winter. We wanted plentiful data connections in particular for my home office. We wanted low long term maintenance. We also wanted sustainable living to do our part for the environment. Finally, we want to be as little reliant on services as possible. Supplying our own water; Eliminating our own waste; And producing our own electricity.
The house is around 250m2, including a large internal double garage. It’s 4 bedroom 2 bathroom for my wife and I and two kids (5 and 3). The 4th room is used as the office for my financial advisory business. The second bathroom is an ensuite to our master bedroom. The house is raised on piles from flooding. We have three water tanks. We have an extensive worm waste system. Windows were ridiculously expensive. Insulation was thorough. Solar panels are extra. Fans are in almost every room. Our flooring is luxury vinyl throughout with tiles only on the walls of the bathrooms. We have a comprehensive ventilation system. We have high cost up front products, but lower long term maintenance.
All this is to say we didn’t spend huge amounts on flashy house designs or things that can easily be seen. The house is a basic rectangular shape. A lot of money was spent on things that can’t necessarily be seen or noticed such as windows, insulation, and so on. We were less interested in aesthetics, but more so a well-controlled temperature, comfortable, intuitive and sustainable home. The only real aesthetic pleasure we went for was a wide hallway. We didn’t need to go that wide but it has been really nice with moving everything in and out of the house. It’s nice to have one stand out feature!
Pre build costs
Architect: $16,700
$16,700. Initial cost was $14,000 but we needed to go back to the Architect for some revisions once we realized what we wanted would be too expensive. $2,700 for the secondary service.
Geotech report: $2,300
To satisfy ourselves, the builders and the bank that the land is safe to build on and what is required to build.
Quotes from builders: $3,270
We received a few quotes before deciding on a builder.
Building consent: $10,950
Approval to build from the Whangarei District Council.
Legal fees: $3,970
Lawyers to look at the building contract and help us identify any pitfalls or risks with signing. Also for the Lawyers to draft the mortgage documents.
Valuation: $920
Valuation of the land for the bank for lending purposes.
Total pre build costs: $38,140
Build costs
Site excavation: $60,000
Preparing the site for building. This was a fairly straight forward job since the ground was pretty solid and flat.
Electrical connection: $290
Concrete down and foundations: $100,000
We did request higher piles than normal, which no doubt added to the cost. Our reason for this is that we wanted a house slightly higher in the event of a flood we would have that bit extra space before going under! We also went with an energy efficient Rib raft system.
Framing and trusses: $100,000
Nothing flash here. Just a lot of structural work on a house of 250m2.
Roof on: $100,000
Building wrap: $100,000
Cladding and joinery: $110,000
For cladding we used a combination of brick and Abodo timber cladding. The Abodo cladding is more expensive than typical weatherboards but it is grown sustainably. This should translate into longer lasting, more durable wood. For the joinery we ordered quality double glazed low emissivity windows with no thermal bridging and Argon gas.
Plumbing and electrical: $141,000
We went pretty hard out with electrical. We have a lot of lighting and a home security and automation system. In addition to this, we also have a lot of ethernet ports throughout the house to allow for reliable and speedy internet access. This also includes a balanced ventilation system bringing in fresh air from outside the house to inside and moving stale moist air from inside to outside. Ceiling fans in most rooms too.
Gib, insulation and doors: $129,500
A lot of gib board needed due to the size of the house. Insulation we went significantly above code throughout the house too. For the doors we used quality floor to ceiling timber sliding doors. It’s a nice feature and pretty solid.
Interior and exterior painting: $100,000
Kitchen and flooring: $148,725
Very modern kitchen with butlers pantry and kitchen island. Stainless steel bench top and engineered stone for the island. A tap with instant boiling water is also a nice addition. For the flooring we went with luxury vinyl throughout. Has a hardwood look but is vinyl. We like it for cleanliness and hygiene reasons. No carpet means easy to clean and healthier living with less exposure to allergens. For the bathrooms we have only tiled the walls, not the floor. Our wooden fireplace also came under this invoice.
Concrete and decking: $97,200
Much more expensive than anticipated here. We had to set our house further back from the road than we wanted due to an undisclosed shared water pipe by the property owner. He added it after the council had approved the development. This meant a large front concrete driveway. I must say though that this has been the kids favourite part of the house. They have loved biking and scootering around here. Has made for a nice basketball court for myself too. We also have a large deck out the back to enjoy those long north facing evenings. I can’t quite remember the name of the wood we used, but it was bloody expensive. The theory behind it though is it doesn’t need staining which is a huge plus for us. Everything we planned was about low maintenance.
Tanks and Bowranda: $87,000
This includes:
3 water tanks (I can’t recall the size);
3 septic tanks. 1 for grey water, 1 for crap, and the third is full of worms who eat all the crap and clean it out. The cleaned waste is then transferred back underground into the section. The circle of life – Ain’t it grand.
Bowranda is a large sheltered structure (roof only) that goes over our back deck so we remain sheltered from the elements.Solar panels: $19,500
Travel: $1,470
A couple of trips to check on builders since we were based out of town and to make some decisions to progress the build.
Power bill: $420
Cost of electricity use during build.
Mortgage interest: $35,000
I include the mortgage because it is a pure cost of building. We are not living in the house so we are receiving no utility from the property yet. In that sense, it is a cost. I only include interest though, because principal is adding value (not a cost per se).
Total build costs: $1,330,105
Total costs: $1,368,245What is the square meter rate to build a house?
That equates to a square meter rate of $5,473.
Just be careful using square meter rate though because most people would typically only include the build costs (not including mortgage, travel, power bill etc). If we don’t include that stuff, the build cost comes to $1,331,355 or $5,325 per square meter. Some people even go as far to not include the pre build and excavation costs as part of the building costs! Seems silly to me as it is a cost required to build the house, but if we remove the pre build costs too then it comes out as $4,933 per square meter. Square meter rates also tend to be higher on smaller builds of similar quality too, so if building a smaller house take that into account.
We still have further costs to consider but can’t really include them as part of the build as they are not fixed to the house. Things like a couch, blinds, dining table and so on. We also have a lot of landscaping and gardening to do.
So there you have it. $5,473 per square meter for a well built modern house in 2024.
Sure you could go cheaper by going for standard insulation, no solar panels, less full on with electrical needs and home automation, windows and less outdoor areas,. But you could also go much more expensive too. This is just our cost. What we prioritised spend on you may prioritise spend on something we didn’t such as flooring or architectural design. Your mileage will vary based on your tastes and needs.
We were expecting a cost of around $1.1 million so it has set us back in our planning. Almost $300,000 more than we originally hoped and our house back in Wellington is now worth over $200,000 less than we started the journey. A $500,000 difference will knock anyone’s plan around, but we had back ups, and back ups for our back ups. For the time being we have a higher mortgage than we’d like and we are accidental landlords. But there is no where we would rather be right now. We are loving our new house and how cool (temperature) it has been in the height of summer. Having a house that is comfortable and enjoyable for a family is something we can be very proud of. We are still pinching ourselves that it is our house. We almost feel like guests in someone else’s house still. Being a 5 minute bike from our daughters school and a 5 minute drive to the beach is amazing.
This is our long term home and knowing exactly what went into the build and everything is in a place that suits our needs is nice to have. But damn it is not cheap.
I’ll try and provide some photos at a later date once we have set up a bit more. Still yet to fill the home with furniture and furnishings.