Building a new home in central Ohio is about to get even more expensive

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Construction costs on new homes are about to get even pricier.

Another round of tariffs went into effect this week and a central Ohio real estate developer said he is already feeling the impact.

“It really affects everything from top to bottom in the construction industry,” said Brian Higgins, Principal of Arch City Development.

He said their projects range from single-family homes to multi-million dollar homes. None of it has been immune to higher interest rates, labor costs and now tariffs.

“It’s challenging. There are uncertainties certainly in the marketplace and really we’ve been living in an uncertainty era in history I suppose,” Higgins said.

The most recently added tariffs include 25% on upholstered furniture, kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities. A 10% tariff was also imposed on timber and lumber.

“Lumber is the lifeblood of construction. Everything from a single-family home to a multi-family project, even if you’re building some high rise that’s made of steel, there’s still a lot of wood and other lumber-related things that are involved,” he said.

Higgins said with so much uncertainty, the only way to prepare is by downsizing, including redesigning a development plan on West Town Street in Franklinton.

“We took off all the balconies, we took off the rooftop deck, some of the amenities in the project that we thought were going to be compelling just to make it more efficient,” he said.

Higgins said one of the hardest parts surrounding tariffs is the uncertainty it brings.

“It's really hard to make a budget for a project when your wood comes from Canada, your steel comes from China, your cabinets come from Vietnam and we don’t know from any given day what those costs are really going to look like,” he said.