How much of a premium would you pay for new construction?
Here's a startling figure: New homes still carry a more than 23 percent premium over their competitors.
OK, it's all relative - both new homes and existing homes are locked in a race to the bottom right now when it comes to prices and sales.
Still, the disparity continues - the median price nationally for a new home is now $202,000, compared to the $157,000 for a home that is being resold.
If anything, the premium placed on new construction is even higher here given the dearth of meaningful home building across the Greater Boston area.
Frank, our frustrated first-time home buyer, may just have a point when he fumes about the new colonial that hit the market in Woburn for $480,000.
Now I come to the debate having long been a big fan of older homes. REMaven keeps trying to convince me I should torn down my early 1900s Natick fixer-upper and hired her to put a modular special.
Thanks but no thanks to that. Go ahead and call my Natick fixer-upper a tear down - to me it has stood the test of time and that means something.
New construction doesn't necessarily mean quality construction as a friend of mine in Ashland found out. He can give you a pretty revealing tour of the 1960s split level he bought with his wife a decade ago and the parts the builder messed up on.
If anything, the temptation to cut corners is even greater now - construction materials never really declined much in price and have put a squeeze on home builders when it comes to profits.
All excited about that new colonial? Bring along a builder buddy or contractor to check it out before you sign on the dotted line.
