Can You Build a Home for $120 Per Square Foot Today?
Yes, but Not the Way You Think
You may have seen builders or home plans advertising construction prices around $120 per square foot. Is that possible today?
Technically, yes.
But that number may not mean what you think it means.
The difference comes down to one important question:
Are they dividing the price by the living area or by the total area under roof?
Those two calculations can make the exact same home appear to have two completely different prices per square foot.
The Industry Standard Uses Living Area
When a home is listed for sale, its advertised square footage normally represents the finished living area.
Garages, covered porches, carports, storage rooms, and other unfinished spaces may be included in the total area under roof, but they are not normally included in the living square footage displayed by MLS based listing platforms.
Zillow, Realtor.com, Redfin, real estate agents, lenders, appraisers, and other professionals generally rely on living area when presenting a residential price per square foot.
That does not mean the garage or porch was built for free.
It means price per square foot is being calculated using a consistent measurement that allows one home to be compared with another.
How a $200 Home Becomes a $120 Home
Consider a home with the following numbers:
Contract price: $480,000Living area: 2,400 square feet
Total area under roof: 4,000 square feet
Using living area:
$480,000 divided by 2,400 square feet equals $200 per square foot.
Using total area:
$480,000 divided by 4,000 square feet equals $120 per square foot.
It is the same house.
The plans did not change. The specifications did not change. The garage did not become free. The contract price did not change.
Only the square footage used in the calculation changed.
That is how someone can advertise a dramatically lower price per square foot without actually lowering the cost of the home.
What Public MLS Listings Show
The following public Louisiana listings provide real examples. Each listing discloses both living area and total area, allowing us to see which number the listing platform uses to calculate price per square foot.
The screenshots were captured on September 15, 2026. Prices and listing availability may change after that date.
Example 1: New Construction on Daffodil Drive
This newly constructed home in Ragley was listed on Zillow for $336,900.
Zillow displayed:
Displayed square footage: 1,820 square feet
Published price per square foot: $185
The listing description separately stated:
Living area: 1,821 square feet
Total area under roof: 2,661 square feet
Zillow has a one square foot difference between the number displayed at the top of the listing and the number stated in the description. That minor discrepancy does not affect the conclusion.
Using Zillow’s displayed living area:
$336,900 divided by 1,820 equals approximately $185 per square foot.
Using total area:
$336,900 divided by 2,661 equals approximately $127 per square foot.
Zillow publishes the living area calculation, not the total area calculation.
Example 2: 207 Poydras Street in New Roads
This home was listed on Zillow for $649,900.
The listing disclosed:
Living area: 3,520 square feet
Total area under roof: 5,955 square feet
Published price per square foot: $185
Using living area:
$649,900 divided by 3,520 equals approximately $185 per square foot.
Using total area:
$649,900 divided by 5,955 equals approximately $109 per square foot.
If the seller advertised this property using total area, the home could be presented as costing only $109 per square foot.
However, Zillow publishes $185 per square foot because the platform uses living area.
Example 3: 10612 Braves Avenue in Denham Springs
This home was listed on Realtor.com for $249,900.
The listing disclosed:
Living area: 1,959 square feet
Total area: 2,575 square feet
Published price per square foot: $128
Using living area:
$249,900 divided by 1,959 equals approximately $128 per square foot.
Using total area:
$249,900 divided by 2,575 equals approximately $97 per square foot.
Realtor.com publishes $128 per square foot because it uses the reported living area.
The listing also identifies Baton Rouge MLS as the source of the property information.
The Difference Is Significant
Here is what happens when the same listing price is divided by living area versus total area:
Daffodil Drive
Published using living area: $185 per square foot
Calculated using total area: $127 per square foot
207 Poydras Street
Published using living area: $185 per square foot
Calculated using total area: $109 per square foot
10612 Braves Avenue
Published using living area: $128 per square foot
Calculated using total area: $97 per square foot
In every example, dividing by total area produces a much lower number.
The math is technically correct, but it is not the same calculation used by the listing platforms to present price per square foot.
Garages and Porches Are Not Free
A garage requires a foundation, framing, roofing, exterior finishes, electrical work, garage doors, labor, and materials.
Covered porches require many of the same structural components.
These spaces absolutely affect the total construction price, even though they are not classified as living area.
If you add a four car garage to a 2,000 square foot home, the garage is not free. The total construction price increases while the living area remains at 2,000 square feet.
As a result, the price per living square foot also increases.
That is why two homes with the same living area can have very different construction prices. One may have a simple roof and a small garage. The other may have extensive porches, a large garage, complicated rooflines, premium finishes, and more expensive site requirements.
A single price per square foot cannot explain all of those differences.
The Question Every Buyer Should Ask
When someone advertises a construction price per square foot, do not accept the number without asking how it was calculated.
Ask these questions:
Is the price divided by living area or total area under roof?
How much garage and porch space is included?
What finishes and allowances are included?
Are land, site work, utilities, permits, and design fees included?
A price based on total area cannot be compared directly with an MLS price based on living area.
It may be a mathematically accurate number, but it answers a completely different question.
How Peel Homes Discusses Price Per Square Foot
Peel Homes uses living area when discussing price per square foot because that is the conventional basis used to list and compare residential homes.
However, every part of the design must still be included when preparing the actual construction price.
That includes garages, porches, roof complexity, finishes, site conditions, utility requirements, and other project specific details.
Price per square foot can provide a general starting point, but it cannot replace a detailed review of the plans and specifications.
If someone claims they can build your home for $120 per square foot, the first question should not be whether $120 sounds like a good deal.
The first question should be:
$120 multiplied by which square footage?
Peel Homes can review your plans, property, priorities, and anticipated investment before preparing a detailed construction proposal for the home you actually intend to build.
Listing information and screenshots were publicly available on September 15, 2026. Prices, descriptions, and availability may change. Zillow, Realtor.com, the listing brokers, and the referenced MLS organizations are not affiliated with Peel Homes LLC.
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