All glossary terms

Price per Square Foot

Definition

Price per square foot divides a home’s price by its interior living area. Normalizing by size makes it easier to compare homes and neighborhoods that differ in typical square footage.

Formula

Listing (or sale) price / interior square footage

How to interpret it

It is most reliable for comparing similar property types within a market; across markets or between very different home types it can mislead, since land value, lot size, and amenities are not captured by interior area alone. Rising price per square foot alongside flat prices can indicate buyers are getting smaller homes for the same money.

See price per square foot for any state, metro, county, or ZIP code in the Reatlas Market Explorer.

Explore the data

Related terms

Source: Reatlas analysis of U.S. Census American Community Survey (ACS), Realtor.com, and Zillow market data.