JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – For years, buying a brand-new home in Northeast Florida typically came with a premium over an existing home.
New data suggests that gap has nearly disappeared and in some cases, new construction is now selling for less per square foot.
Recommended Videos
Click here for more Addressing A4dability coverage.
A 25-year analysis of local home sales by Jon Brooks, a market analyst and the co-founder of Momentum Realty, found the price-per-square-foot gap between new and existing homes has narrowed dramatically.
In 2011, new homes sold for about 39% more per square foot than existing homes.
By 2024, that premium had fallen to 2.4%. In 2025, it was just 0.3%.
So far in 2026, new homes are selling for slightly less per square foot than existing homes.
“Typically, new construction has a 15 to 20% premium over existing homes,” Brooks said. “So from a historical standpoint, what we’re seeing right now is very different than what we were normally used to.”
Brooks said the shift is partly the result of existing home prices rising rapidly in recent years, while builders have increasingly competed for buyers by cutting prices and offering incentives.
One of the biggest incentives is financing.
Many builders are offering mortgage rate buy-downs that can push buyers’ interest rates below prevailing market rates, reducing monthly payments.
Brooks said some builders are also cutting the purchase price to make deals work.
“The builders are willing to not only give the concession on the mortgage, but also cut the price of the house to make deals work with buyers,” Brooks said.
Those incentives can make the total cost of a new home more competitive with an existing home, even when the advertised price may initially appear higher.
The shift also comes as new construction has taken a larger share of local home sales.
According to Brooks’ analysis, new construction accounted for about 13% of sales in 2021, a 20-year low. By 2024, that share had climbed to 27%, the highest level in the 25-year data set.
Brooks said builders have been forced to compete more aggressively as the Northeast Florida housing market has added significant amounts of new inventory.
Some builders have accepted lower profit margins to keep homes moving.
“Some of them are losing money,” Brooks said. “The majority of them, their margins are much less than what they’re used to getting.”
For buyers focused on affordability, Brooks said the data is a reason not to automatically rule out new construction.
Instead, he recommends comparing the total cost of buying new versus existing, including mortgage rates, builder incentives, closing costs and other concessions.
The trend could also put additional pressure on sellers of existing homes.
Brooks said that in areas where there has been a major construction boom, increased competition from new homes could force existing-home sellers to lower prices.
“I think times are changing,” Brooks said. “We could see prices actually come down further moving forward now that the ratios have flipped.”