with 60,000 construction workers unemployed in 08

[aguirrewar]

And the construction prices down. What is the real SQ. FT. cost for a new house in CR??
that is 40,000 Nicas and 20,000 Ticos. No pun for the Nicas or the Ticos just look at the #’s of unemployed contruction workers.

On “hold” all contruction MEGA projects in the NW of CR.

Selling!! properties in the Central San Jose area.

Any Ideas?? of why this is happening??

Warren

PS: Forgive my !! and the ??

[DavidCMurray]

There are many, many variables in the answer to your question about “. . . the real SQ. FT. cost for a new house in CR.” And there are more than a few answers depending on many, many variables.

Bear in mind that the cost of building here is about 75% materials and 25% labor. The law establishes the minimum wage for all workers. So whether there are sixty or sixty thousand construction workers out of work, the labor cost to build YOUR house will be the minimum wage times the number of hours of labor required. If I recall correctly, private sector employees are getting a seven percent raise in January, so labor costs will be going up.

In general, material costs are going up, too. Costa Rica has two manufacturers of portland cement which is a major component of the bulk of building materials. Those two companies set the wholesale prices and the retailers add a profit for themselves. Cement prices have risen very sharply in the past couple of years. Steel prices, too, are on the rise. And the cost of petroleum affects the transportation and distribution cost of everything.

Point is, just because building projects are down and construction workers are unemployed, you should not assume that the cost to build a house will be going down. The only likely relief might be in that construction companies, anxious for work, would agree to take a smaller profit to win your project.

[aguirrewar]

Davidcmurray:

The #’s do not add up

But the reality is that as reported by the “Camara de Construccion” by La Nacion are;

2007 4 million M2 of construction
2008 5.8 million of construction

With 20,000 construction workers reported for 2008 and another 40,000 for 2009 projected to be unemployed.

Out of 10 MEGA projects, 2 are on hold and 2 on stand by. The rest (6) are being finalized because investment has reached 80%, it does not mean that 100% is sold just that the complex has or will be finished by early 2009.

Permits for small and medium houses are projected to be UP for 2009 compared to 2008.

These #’s are 75% better than the USA where we have an excess of new homes inventory and 1 out of 50 homes will be in foreclosed for many different reasons.

warren

Edited on Nov 09, 2008 07:18

[grb1063]

A realistic SF cost for new construction in Central Valley would be approx. $60-$70/SF. CR Homebuilder can confirm that. The average cost in the Seattle area is $220-$300/SF depending on level of finishes, casework, appliances and technology (the big variables). A permit to construct would also add $10,000+. Of course this does not include land costs.

[Author]

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