Kolaboro / Tools / Build cost

Is the price below what it costs to build?

Enter the market, the unit size and the price. We divide the price by the size and set it against published construction cost ranges for that city: the cost of the building alone, before land, fees and profit.

A prompt to ask, not proof of fraud. A price below build cost can have honest reasons: a launch discount, a size measured differently, a smaller or simpler building than the survey assumes. It can also mean the project cannot be finished with the money it takes in. Either way, ask before you pay.

Price per m² of the unit

Build cost is for the building only. Land, permits, design fees, marketing, finance, tax and the developer's margin come on top.

Picture

Your price against the published ranges

Tracked projects

How many projects we track are priced under build cost?

Market	Cost city	Tracked	Compared	Below build cost	Under 1.5 times	Median ratio

If the price looks too low

Questions to ask the developer and your lawyer

How is the size measured?Ask whether the size is internal, gross, or includes terraces, a share of common areas or the plot. Our cost figures are per m² of floor area built, measured to the outside of the walls and including balconies.
What is included in the price?Furniture, pool, finishing, tax and fees can be in or out. A shell sold without finishing costs less to build than the survey's finished building.
Who pays for the rest of the building?If buyers' money does not cover construction, ask who funds the gap: a bank loan, the developer's equity, or the next buyers. Ask for the construction contract value and the lender's name.
Is my money protected until handover?Ask for the escrow account, bank guarantee or insurance that returns your payments if the building is not finished. See the deposit protection finder.
Is construction actually moving?A price below cost with no progress on site is the worst combination. Check our satellite watch and ask for dated site photos.

Method

Price per m² is the price you typed divided by the size you typed, nothing else.
Build cost is the published low to high range for the building type in the nearest city with published figures, copied from the source and page shown below.
Currency: Arcadis publishes in US dollars with the exchange rate it used for each city. We turn the range back into the city's own currency with that same rate, so a price in the local currency is compared with the local figure. A price in another currency is converted with the ECB reference rate of the date shown.
The flag appears only when your price per m² is below the low end of the range for the type you chose. Being above the low end says nothing about whether the price is fair.
Everything is computed in your browser. The link you share carries only the market, type, size, price and currency you typed.

Not a valuation. Survey figures are averages from competitive tenders in a capital city, with a stated accuracy of about plus or minus 10%. Costs on an island or in a resort town can be well above them.

Sources

Where the cost figures come from

Buyer tools

More tools for off-plan buyers

Price below build costPrice per m² against published construction cost ranges for the city.Currency riskWhat your payment plan would have cost with real exchange rate moves.Late handoverWhat the contract and the law say you are owed when the keys are late.Deposit protectionIs your off-plan deposit protected, and by what?Total costEverything you pay on top of the price.