Susan Hayes

Hi Steve - To put some actual numbers to this question (because an average can be very deceptive) I did a quick check on Public Records to show how tricky going by price per sq. ft. can be when trying to guage price accuracy of a home can be.
For instance, Solds for single family homes in the past 3 months shows one of the lowest priced homes sold for $350.27/ per sq. ft. while one of the most expensive homes sold for $177.76/sq. ft. That's quite a range!
For condos, a lowest priced sold was $ $246.48, while the highest priced one sold for $216.19.
Upgraded kitchens, baths etc. don't always translate to higher sq. ft. price because so many other factors come into play - each home must be evaluated on it's own merits and what it has to offer in the overall picture.
I've found the best way to use price per sq. ft. is to evaluate comparable properties within a specific range. For instance, if you are looking in the $450,000 to $525,000 range you would check the price per sq. ft. in that range for all similar properties and check those numbers against amenities, location, etc.
Best of luck! - Sat Aug 22 2009, 05:37