For buyers in Michigan, building a house is certainly one way to get around the low inventory of available homes. Even as the hot seller’s market has cooled, top HomeLight agents report that inventory is staying low as homeowners in 2023 pull back from selling.

But according to Bethany Brokaw — a real estate agent selling homes in Genesee County for over a decade — the average cost to build a house in Michigan “would be deemed quite expensive right now, especially compared to three years ago.”

Brokaw says that, on the low end, buyers can expect to pay $150 per square foot to build a house, “and I’m talking no basement, very small lot, and builder-grade finishes,” she explains.

“And your higher end can be anywhere between $300 to $700 per square foot, depending on your location, if you have a water view, how large your lot is, and which finishes you choose.”

On average, though, to build a home in Michigan with desirable finishes like granite countertops, hardwood floors, and other basic upgrades, “buyers are definitely looking at around $250 per square foot,” says Brokaw.

To build a 1,500-square-foot home, this clocks out for $375,000. Meanwhile, the median price per square foot of existing homes in Genesee County is just $126 per square foot — or $189,000 for 1,500 square feet.

When it comes to purchasing a home, there are plenty of reasons buyers might have their eye on a new construction property rather than an existing one.

There’s an undeniable appeal to being the first to live in a brand-new home. If you’re buying early enough to be involved in the building process, you can often make decisions about paint colors and upgrading materials to customize your home before moving in.

Of course, the cost of buying real estate is rarely so cut and dried. It may well be cheaper to buy a house than to build one, but it depends on everything from location to your personal preferences for fit and finish.

Here is an at-a-glance look at the average costs of each phase of building in Michigan, but we will break it all down next: