a few things make it more expensive to build here... one is compliance with building codes because of our extreme climate... there are lots of things done to our houses here to guard against the temps and weather and the damage they do...
another is the shipping... there is probably nothing that goes into our homes that is manufactured here, aside from the rock and gravel in the concrete... i'd bet shipping costs account for 20% of the build...
because of the weather, labor and the overall skilled workforce is effected... you can only do so much exterior work at a baseline cost, so the labor is pushed up because of our winters... skilled tradesmen have less time to make more money to survive the months when they cannot and should not work outside, and their living expenses are also higher here...
land here is almost exclusively privately owned and has been for generations by people who generally don't want neighbors, don't need the money, and use the land to sustain life as they know it... when new developments are planned, these acres are bought at a higher cost and divided up because of a specific business cycle, and time is of the essence... a big development in nd is 100 acres, and there are no guarantees... in bigger cities where a new interstate circle goes in every few years, huge developments are bought, designed, and built for the next generation...
it is frustrating looking at the building costs around here... but after living where i've lived and doing what i've done, i now understand why it is how it is...
