Measurement · Comparison · Value
Measure the value behind every square foot.
Calculate area or price per square foot, compare purchase and rental scenarios and then look beyond the headline number to layout, light, condition and building quality.
New York CityEstimate · Compare · Confirm
Interactive planning tool
Calculate square footage and price per square foot.
Use the appropriate tab for a purchase, rental, lease-price or dimension calculation. Treat advertised square footage as a starting point and verify important measurements.
How to Measure Square Footage
While you can perform your measurements with a measuring tape, there can be a lot of room for error if the home has an irregular shape with lots of nooks and crannies. For this reason, it’s far better to use a laser distance meter.
When determining a home’s total square footage, you can still come up with different numbers depending on how you’ve calculated it. For instance, you can either estimate the square footage by multiplying the width by the length (ignoring any irregularities) or measure more accurately by accounting for the irregularities. The latter option is more complicated and will require some knowledge of middle-school geometry, but it will yield a more accurate result.
Why is the Actual Square Footage Different from the Listed Square Footage?
Another problem you’ll run into is that the listed square footage can be slightly higher than the actual square footage. Often, you’ll see the gross square footage in listing descriptions, which is the square footage of the entire apartment with no account made for the space taken up by walls, columns, fixtures, or even, in some cases, the common areas. The usable square footage can be a couple hundred square feet less than advertised.
Some listing agents, developers, and sponsors can be coy about this, trying to make the property look bigger than it is. And they usually get away with it, too, because not many buyers show up with a measuring tape or laser meter.
In extreme cases where the listed size is way off from the actual size, this can cause problems with your loan. Your lender will conduct its own measurement of the home’s square footage. If the total is well below the seller’s claim, this can delay your loan or even torpedo the whole deal—all the more reason to always include a mortgage contingency in all your purchasing contracts.
Why Does Price Per Square Foot Matter When Selling or Buying a Home?
Apartments can come in many different shapes and sizes. Even when two similarly priced properties are described as “Two-bedroom,” there can be vast differences in the square footage. This matters because it tells you how much of a good deal you’re getting (or not getting).
Knowing a property’s actual square footage can be helpful for both buyers and sellers. It lets you easily compare different properties. Sellers can tell how competitive their price is compared to a competing listing, and buyers can determine which property provides the most value.
Why Price Per Square Foot Can Also Be Helpful with Home Renovations
Knowing a home’s price per square foot can also be helpful for home renovations. Most contractors will use a home’s square footage to determine their asking price. Knowing your exact price per square foot can ensure you aren’t getting scammed while also allowing you to compare quotes from different contractors to see which offers you the best deal. This is especially true for renovation projects involving flooring, ceiling, sanding, refinishing, skim coating of walls, painting, or drywall replacement.
Square Footage is Important, But It Isn’t Everything
While it is advised that you carry out your measurements if you suspect the listed size is grossly misrepresented, it’s also best not to get too caught up in slight differences between the gross and net footage. A gross square footage calculation considering the walls, columns, and fixtures might only add up to a couple of hundred square feet difference compared to a usable (net) square footage calculation.
Having 200 square feet less than you thought you would get might seem like a lot, but what’s more important is how the home flows and makes you feel. Does it allow you to move around comfortably? Is there enough space for your furnishings and other possessions? Can you see yourself living in this space for the foreseeable future? These are more important questions than the usable square footage.
Frequently asked questions
Use the estimate with the right context.
How do you calculate price per square foot?
Divide the purchase price by the stated or verified square footage. For meaningful comparisons, use a consistent measurement basis and similar property type, location, condition and building quality.
Why can listed and measured square footage differ?
Offering plans, architectural measurements, wall inclusion, stair or common-area conventions, rounding and listing errors can produce different figures. Review the source of the measurement.
Is the lowest price per square foot always the best value?
No. Layout efficiency, ceiling height, light, views, condition, floor, outdoor space, building finances and resale demand can justify meaningful differences.
Can square footage help estimate renovation costs?
It can support a preliminary budget, but scope, finishes, mechanical work, approvals, labor and site conditions usually matter more than area alone.
A number needs context
Compare the property, the building and the block—not only the square feet.
Start a custom searchPrice per square foot
Price per square foot is a comparison tool—not a valuation by itself.
Two apartments with the same size can trade at very different values because floor, light, views, layout, condition, outdoor space, building quality and monthly costs all influence the market.
Know what area figure is being used.
Condo offering-plan square footage, architectural measurements and marketing figures may not always be calculated in the same way.
Vertical position can change value.
Light, views, privacy, noise and elevator dependence can make otherwise similar lines trade differently.
Usable space matters more than raw area.
Hallways, ceiling height, room proportions and window placement can make one floor plan more functional than another at the same size.
Renovation belongs in the adjustment.
A recently renovated property and a comparable requiring major work should not be treated as equivalent merely because their square footage matches.
Monthly carry and building quality matter.
Service, reserves, assessments, amenities and maintenance or common charges influence what buyers are willing to pay.
Use the closest economic substitutes.
Same-building or closely comparable transactions are usually more informative than broad neighborhood averages.
Price · Cash · Proceeds
Put the square-foot value inside the complete transaction.
Price per square foot is a comparison tool. Closing costs determine the cash a buyer needs and the proceeds a seller keeps.
