Forums > Specific Focus > Home, Garden & Construction in Mexico

Cynthia7

May 14, 2004, 7:09 PM

Post #1 of 10 (6513 views)

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construction costs

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Is there a price per meter for construction of a house? I know it would vary with the quality and detail but is there an average - like from $-$$? In the US there are construction costs per foot - different in different areas. I am not asking for land costs - just construction.

PBGollaz

May 14, 2004, 7:51 PM

Post #2 of 10 (6505 views)

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Re: [Cynthia7] construction costs

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When we began looking at construction costs earlier this year (January-February), we were told by several architects that construction costs in the Guadalajara area are roughly:

Interés Social (low cost/public) $2,000-3,000 pesos per square meter
Media (moderate cost) $4,000 pesos per square meter
Residencial (middle to upper-middle class) $5,000-7,000 pesos per square meter
Lujosa (luxury) The sky is the limit!

The house that we're building, in a nice subdivision with 24-hour security, is costing us around $6,000 pesos per square meter. I hope that helps.

Patrick
Zapopan, Jalisco, México

PBGollaz

May 15, 2004, 10:45 AM

Post #3 of 10 (6481 views)

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Re: [Cynthia7] construction costs

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Here's another way of looking at the same question, from a recent article in El Norte. In general terms, the article classified housing types as económica, less than 155,000 pesos total construction cost; interés social, up to 300,000 pesos; vivienda media, between 300,000 and 600,000 pesos and residencial, more than 600,000 pesos. They also mentioned that construction costs are much higher in the Mexico City metropolitan area, with the vivienda media reaching as much as 850,000 pesos and the residencial above that. The classification residencial de lujo, according to them, is anything above 2 million pesos. It is also worth mentioning that Guadalajara is growing very rapidly and is among the most expensive cities in Mexico in terms of construction costs. It generally compares more closely to Mexico City construction costs than to those of most other Mexican cities.

Patrick
Zapopan, Jalisco, México

Ed and Fran

May 16, 2004, 8:02 AM

Post #4 of 10 (6453 views)

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Re: [Patricio B] construction costs

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Patricio

Interesting numbers, I've been curious about that myself. Do you have any idea what these figures include? That is, are they supposed to be representative of costs for a finished house including plumbing, wiring, windows, tile, paint, etc, or just the obra negra?

Regards

Ed

PBGollaz

May 16, 2004, 10:12 AM

Post #5 of 10 (6437 views)

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Re: [Ed and Fran] construction costs

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Ed,

That's an excellent question! The figures that I was given by the architects, as well as those taken from the newspaper article, are intended to represent construction costs for completed houses -- ready to move in. The only item missing (albeit often a significant one) is the cost of the land.

Saludos,

Patrick
Zapopan, Jalisco, México

Ed and Fran

May 16, 2004, 3:35 PM

Post #6 of 10 (6427 views)

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Re: [Patricio B] construction costs

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Thanks, even more interesting. Recognizing that you affect your final price a lot through the choices you make in finishing materials, fixtures and design complexity, this is at least the first time I've seen an attempt at giving ranges on construction costs.

Regards

Ed

not_ally

Jun 1, 2004, 7:19 AM

Post #7 of 10 (6344 views)

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Re: [Patricio B] construction costs

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Dear Patricio,

Sorry to belabor the point (maybe the answer is obvious) but do the construction cost numbers include all fees (architect, engineer, etc.)

Many thanks from a construction-in-mexico newbie.
----------------------------
"The first question I ask myself when something doesn't seem to be beautiful is why do I think it's not beautiful. And very shortly I discover there is no reason." John Cage

PBGollaz

Jun 1, 2004, 8:16 AM

Post #8 of 10 (6338 views)

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Re: [not_ally] construction costs

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Hi! John,

That's a good question. No, professional fees are not included -- just construction costs. You should probably count on an additional 15 percent or so for architect and engineer fees. I've seen them run anywhere from 10 to 17 percent, depending on how busy or prestigious -- or how desperate for cash flow -- the architects and engineers happen to be at the time. Those costs may vary from city to city and other folks might chime in with additional information.

Of course, some folks just have the architect produce the plans and then supervise the construction themselves. That depends entirely on the level of Spanish fluency and familiarity with Mexican building procedures. In our case, the house plans and permits would have cost us about $30,000 pesos if we had not hired the architect to supervise construction. Since we did hire him, he reduced the cost of the plans by 50 percent and charged us 15 percent of construction costs for handling the entire project (construction supervision, budgeting, personnel management, site security, etc).

Patrick
Zapopan, Jalisco, México

Esteban

Jun 1, 2004, 8:52 AM

Post #9 of 10 (6339 views)

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Re: [Patricio B] construction costs

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Guess I should ask how many square meters you built. Since all houses have to have a kitchen and a bathroom (the most expensive rooms in the house) a smaller house may appear to be more expensive than one a little larger. Does that make sense?

Thanks,
Esteban

PBGollaz

Jun 1, 2004, 9:17 AM

Post #10 of 10 (6335 views)

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Re: [Esteban] construction costs

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Hi! Esteban,

It's 200 square meters -- 30 meters of completely-enclosed garage space and 170 of living space. Living room, dining room, kitchen, 2-1/2 baths, two large bedrooms, a roofed terrace and a large, two-story entry hall. A construction cost of $1,140,000 pesos equates to about $5,700 pesos per square meter. The inclusion of permits and architect's fees would boost that to a bit over $6,000 pesos per square meter, the cost that I mentioned in a previous post.

Construction costs here in the Guadalajara metropolitan area are among the highest in Mexico and I expect that a similar house could be built for less almost anywhere else in Mexico, with the possible exception of Mexico City.

Saludos cordiales,

Patrick
Zapopan, Jalisco, México