With the frenzy of new housing developments in Waikanae at present, not only the enormous Maypole company one, the option of building a new house rather than buying an existing one is what many intending residents will look at.

This article on the Building Guide website says:

• “As a very rough starting point, $1500 per metre² is very cheap, $2-2500 per metre² is more usual and then anything from $3000 per metre² and up is more consistent with bespoke designed houses.”

As everyone knows, building materials in NZ are very expensive compared to Australia, for example, but they aren’t the only costs involved; several other factors are involved, too.

In the U.S. the national average for new home building costs is presently about $140 per sq. ft which converts to $NZ 2,100 per metre².  A breakdown is below (we assume this is for a 2,000 sq ft or 186 metre² house). Remember these are national averages and the range, depending on what is involved, is quite substantial.

Remember too, that what you can actually build in a new development may be restricted by its covenants and conditions.