Cost to Build a House in California-Berkeley

Cost to Build a House in Berkeley California

"Hello Carl,
I'm wondering why it is so expensive to build in the Bay Area - your rough estimate is $125/sq ft, yet I see $300 - 400/sq ft on many blogs about actual cost of building here.

Is it just the cost of land, or are there other sources of this incredible "mark-up"?

I'm looking to build on a level lot in the East Bay, slab foundation, no hillside heroics. Should I really count on $300/sq ft?"

Hi David,

For those who are unfamiliar with the East bay, suffice it to say that it is a humongous sub region the San Francisco Bay Area and comprises Alameda and Contra Costa Counties.

The East Bay lies on the eastern shores of the San Francisco Bay and San Pablo Bay and is generally considered to include not just the shorefront cities but the nearby inland valleys located on the east side of the Berkeley Hills.

It does cost more to build in this area, as well as the LA basin area, and that is due to more expensive (and bureaucratic) permitting and subcontractor labor. Subcontractors charge more because it costs more to live in these areas and people are conditioned to paying higher wages.

But, it does not cost $300-$400 per sq ft for an owner/builder to build an average house, or even an above average house. It doesn’t cost that much (or shouldn’t) using a builder (General Contractor) either.

Maybe the blogs you were reading did have the land cost figured in. Maybe they actually paid a General Contractor that much. Who knows? Who cares?

Using the “Cost to Build Calculator” on my Getting Started page (# 5), the approximate cost to build in East Bay, in the zip code for the Metro area of Berkeley, CA, 94701, for a nice 2398 sq. ft house, with you as the General Contractor is approximately $ 309,900, or $129.23 per sq. ft.

The same house using a Builder (General Contractor) is approximately $384,598 or $160.38 per sq. ft. This cost figure came from the HDA “Cost to Build this Home Calculator”, which is a pretty neat feature that HAD has on their web site.

Here’s the Modern Stucco Design House from HDA.