In Older Metros, New Homes Can Cost 3 Times More Than Existing Homes

A growing number of Americans are looking to purchase a newly-built home. New home sales show year-over-year gains of 14.1 percent while new construction continues to recover.

Trulia's latest findings reveal that newer homes are more expensive in older metros. A new home costs nearly 28 percent more than other available housing, and half of that is related to the new home's amenities. Only one out of the top 100 metros analyzed, El Paso, Texas, had new units 15 percent more expensive than the rest of the housing stock while having 5 percent less square footage and 15 percent smaller lot size.

The nation’s most expensive metros are largely absent from the list of most expensive new homes. Instead, metros with the largest price differential are concentrated around the Rust Belt. Detroit tops the list, where you’ll pay 222 percent—or 3.2 times more—for a new home.

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