Here’s how much Philly-area buyers are paying per square foot for a new home

What’s one square foot of home worth to you?

Local home buyers are spending almost 50% more per square foot for a new home than they did five years ago.

In the Philadelphia metropolitan area, buyers paid a median of $218 per square foot for a new single-family home in 2023, according to a report this month by the real estate data company Clever Real Estate. That’s up from $147 per square foot in 2018. The typical home was 1,627 square feet in 2023.

Comparing the 50 metros with the largest populations, the Philly region’s price increase is in the middle of the pack. The area ranks 23rd. Across all 50 metros, buyers paid a median of $214 per square foot in 2023, up from $189 in 2018.

Blame higher construction costs and economic trends.

“Most Americans at this point are no longer surprised by how expensive everything is,” said Sam M. Huisache, a data writer at Clever Real Estate and author of the report. “What is most surprising is there sadly hasn’t been very much done to combat the rise in inflation” in home prices.

» READ MORE: Philly brings back its popular first-time home buyer grant program

Households regularly see how prices have gone up at the grocery store, for example. “If you think that’s bad, when you look at home prices, that’s even worse,” Huisache said.

Since 1980, the national median price per square foot has risen at a rate that has outpaced inflation as a whole by 44%, according to the report. Since just last year, this increase has outpaced inflation by 75%.

Huisache recommend that buyers in danger of being priced out of the market take advantage of any down payment or mortgage assistance programs that counties and lenders offer.

Nationally, the median sales price for a new single-family home was $146 per square foot in 1980, adjusted for inflation, compared to $192 per square foot last year. That’s a price jump of almost one-third.

» READ MORE: Eager to sell your house? Try describing it as ‘adorable’

Back in 1980, the national median sales price of a home was $229,449, adjusted for inflation. And the typical home was 1,570 square feet.

In 2022, the typical home was larger, but perhaps not as big as a buyer would think given price increases. The median square footage of homes was 2,383. Buyers paid a median price of $457,800.

Across the country, the metro areas with the highest prices per square foot are no surprise.

» READ MORE: How much is your home worth? Here’s how to find out.

In 2023, home buyers paid a median of $845 in San Jose, $705 in San Francisco, $641 in Los Angeles, $587 in San Diego, and $490 in New York.

The Pittsburgh area had the third-lowest price per square foot at $147. Home buyers in the Cleveland area paid the least — $133 per square foot.