Property Type Price Per Sq Ft
Compare average build costs and annual rents across residential and commercial property types.
Browse Property Types
Compare average build costs and annual rents across residential and commercial property types.
Single-Family Home
Build Cost$180/sqftCondominium
Build Cost$130/sqftTownhouse
Build Cost$125/sqftMulti-Family (Duplex)
Build Cost$140/sqftApartment Building
Build Cost$160/sqftCommercial Office
Build Cost$320/sqftMedical Office
Build Cost$250/sqftRetail Space
Build Cost$180/sqftRestaurant Space
Build Cost$300/sqftWarehouse
Build Cost$100/sqftIndustrial Manufacturing
Build Cost$120/sqftSelf-Storage Facility
Build Cost$60/sqftHotel / Motel
Build Cost$220/sqft
Side-by-Side Benchmark Comparison
Compare 2 to 3 cities or property types simultaneously. Adjust your budget in real time to visualize purchasing power and save persistent views.
Single-Family Home
Single-Family Asset ClassCondominium
Condo Asset ClassUnderstanding Property Type Costs
Property Cost & Rent Simulator
Model construction budgets and rental yields across 13 property asset classes
Single-Family Homes
$180/sq ftThe standard benchmark for detached housing. Single-family construction carries higher foundation and roof-per-square-foot ratios than multi-story structures. Custom architectural plans and high-end kitchen/bath finishes push costs toward $300+/sq ft.
Condominiums & Multi-Story
$130/sq ftMultifamily multi-story buildings achieve economies of scale by stacking repetitive floor plates over shared foundations. However, structural concrete, steel framing, fire suppression systems, and elevator shafts create significant fixed upfront capital requirements.
Townhouses & Duplexes
$125–$140/sqftShared party walls significantly reduce exterior siding, insulation, and framing expenses per unit. Duplexes and attached townhouses remain the highest-yield entry point for residential real estate investors balancing build cost against rental cash flow.
RSF = USF × (1 + Building Core Load Factor)A 2,000 sq ft office suite in a building with an 18% core factor requires paying rent on 2,360 RSF to cover your share of elevators, lobbies, and shared conference facilities.
Frequently Asked Questions
Answers to common questions about property type pricing
While the basic formula is similar, residential properties (like single-family homes) typically quote sale prices based on livable space, and rent is quoted monthly. Commercial properties often quote rent annually per square foot (e.g., $30/sqft/year) and distinguish between Usable Square Footage (USF) and Rentable Square Footage (RSF).
Usable Square Footage (USF) is the actual physical space you occupy and use within your walls. Rentable Square Footage (RSF) is the USF plus your proportional share of the building's common areas, such as lobbies, hallways, restrooms, and elevators. You usually pay rent based on RSF.
Medical and dental offices require specialized infrastructure that standard offices do not. This includes extensive plumbing in multiple exam rooms, heavy-duty electrical systems for x-ray equipment, reinforced floors, lead-lined walls, and specialized HVAC systems for infection control.
Build costs per square foot typically cover only the construction of the physical structure (the "hard costs"). They do not include the cost of acquiring the land itself, nor do they usually include "soft costs" like architectural fees, permits, and financing.
Warehouses are generally the cheapest structures to build per square foot because they are essentially large, open shells. They consist mostly of a concrete slab, simple exterior walls (often tilt-up concrete or metal), and a roof, with very minimal interior framing, drywall, plumbing, or high-end finishes.