Where Are All The New Ranches?

🕒 Read Time: 3 Minutes

Are you dreaming of living in a beautiful brand new single story home and wondering why you don’t see any being built? We’re going to give you a quick rundown of the top reasons why you rarely see a Ranch style home being built.

Roofs & Foundations are Expensive: A 2,500 square foot ranch has a much larger roof and foundation footprint than a 2,500 square foot colonial. These are some of the most expensive components of building a new home.

Per square foot, Colonials sell for more than Ranches: Land value is land value, but if Colonials cost less money to build and sell for more it just makes sense that new home builders almost always go for the 2-story Colonial. Land is so expensive that in many cases building a ranch to sell could leave a developer in the red.

Bottom Line: As Paul puts it, it’s cheaper to stack 2 boxes on top of each other than to build one giant box. If you’re looking for a sprawling ranch consider expanding an existing one or searching for land to build your dream home.