I’m Wade Bartels. This page is the resource I wanted when I started helping
buyers with new construction and could not find one anywhere: a straight,
sourced answer to where there are still lots, how active each development is,
and what new homes there actually sell for.
Everything below is rebuilt from public City of Lincoln and Lancaster County
records, not from builder marketing. Where the data is thin, it says so instead
of guessing.
The short version
- 10,987 approved single-family lots in Lincoln have not been built on yet.
- They sit across roughly 559 developments with lots remaining.
- Recently built Lincoln homes that sold in the trailing window ran a median of
$459,828, about $306 per finished square foot,
at a median size near 1,652 finished square feet
(from 428 matched sales).
Active developments with lots still available
These are the developments that have both pulled at least 5 single-family
permits in the last three years and still show approved lots left. Sorted by how
much building is actually happening.
| Development | Lots still available | Homes permitted (3 yr) | Median sale price, recent builds | Median price per sq ft | Sales in sample |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dominion At Stevens Creek | 93 | 185 | $442,357 | $282 | 67 |
| Southwest Village Heights | 106 | 126 | $446,900 | $292 | 30 |
| Wandering Creek | 26 | 115 | $702,095 | $378 | 18 |
| Wilderness Hills | 351 | 107 | $581,838 | $328 | 14 |
| Grandview Estates | 316 | 103 | $527,500 | $328 | 24 |
| The Woodlands At Yankee Hill | 383 | 98 | $557,415 | $332 | 14 |
| Wilderness Crossing | 51 | 98 | $369,950 | $210 | 6 |
| Garden View At Vintage Heights | 1 | 81 | $386,250 | $283 | 24 |
| Hidden Hills | 71 | 55 | $628,900 | $363 | 6 |
| Highland View | 267 | 49 | $421,534 | $261 | 16 |
| Iron Ridge | 650 | 46 | $581,819 | $295 | 7 |
| Fallbrook | 219 | 41 | Not enough recent sales | Not enough recent sales | 3 |
| The 8801 | 1 | 38 | Not enough recent sales | Not enough recent sales | 0 |
| Tower Heights | 16 | 38 | Not enough recent sales | Not enough recent sales | 2 |
| Rokeby Ridge | 61 | 37 | $379,999 | $293 | 11 |
| White Horse | 34 | 37 | Not enough recent sales | Not enough recent sales | 4 |
| Wilderness Heights | 459 | 37 | $374,999 | $284 | 13 |
| Hartland’S Garden Valley | 148 | 35 | Not enough recent sales | Not enough recent sales | 2 |
| Prairie Village North | 14 | 34 | $352,000 | $275 | 11 |
| Charleston Heights | 40 | 33 | $426,655 | $288 | 6 |
| Hub Hall Heights | 48 | 31 | Not enough recent sales | Not enough recent sales | 3 |
| Prairie Village | 23 | 26 | Not enough recent sales | Not enough recent sales | 4 |
| Waterford Estates | 108 | 21 | $574,950 | $339 | 6 |
| Hartland Homes Southwest | 3 | 18 | Not enough recent sales | Not enough recent sales | 0 |
| West View | 29 | 17 | $407,450 | $283 | 7 |
| Sunrise Villas | 4 | 16 | $474,491 | $319 | 9 |
| Boulder Ridge | 5 | 15 | Not enough recent sales | Not enough recent sales | 4 |
| Black Forest Estates | 24 | 12 | Not enough recent sales | Not enough recent sales | 1 |
| Hartland’S Cardinal Heights | 43 | 12 | Not enough recent sales | Not enough recent sales | 1 |
| Foxtail Meadows | 47 | 11 | $299,900 | $165 | 5 |
| Village West | 467 | 10 | Not enough recent sales | Not enough recent sales | 4 |
| Whispering Meadows | 4 | 10 | Not enough recent sales | Not enough recent sales | 0 |
| Firethorn | 5 | 9 | Not enough recent sales | Not enough recent sales | 1 |
| Himark Estates | 20 | 9 | Not enough recent sales | Not enough recent sales | 1 |
| Legends | 69 | 9 | Not enough recent sales | Not enough recent sales | 2 |
| Grandale | 199 | 8 | Not enough recent sales | Not enough recent sales | 4 |
| Meadow View | 18 | 8 | Not enough recent sales | Not enough recent sales | 0 |
| Pine Woods | 8 | 8 | Not enough recent sales | Not enough recent sales | 3 |
| Southlake | 2 | 8 | Not enough recent sales | Not enough recent sales | 0 |
| East Dominion Estates | 139 | 7 | $400,000 | $190 | 5 |
| The Bridges | 59 | 7 | Not enough recent sales | Not enough recent sales | 0 |
| Blue Ridge Crossing | 14 | 5 | Not enough recent sales | Not enough recent sales | 0 |
| Fire Ridge | 209 | 5 | Not enough recent sales | Not enough recent sales | 1 |
| Shadow Creek | 31 | 5 | Not enough recent sales | Not enough recent sales | 0 |
| South Ridge Acres | 3 | 5 | Not enough recent sales | Not enough recent sales | 0 |
| Vintage Heights | 84 | 5 | Not enough recent sales | Not enough recent sales | 1 |
Reading the table: “Lots still available” counts approved
single-family lots not yet built, from the city’s development tracking. Pricing columns
come from recorded sale prices of recently built homes divided by finished square footage.
Where fewer than five such sales exist, the cell says so rather than showing a number built
on almost nothing.
What these numbers do and do not tell you
They tell you where the opportunity is. A development with a high
permit count and lots remaining is one where builders are active and you still have
choices. A development that is built out can still be a great place to buy, but you
will be buying an existing home there, not building.
They do not tell you your build price. Your number depends on the
lot premium, the plan, the finish level, and the builder. Two houses on the same street
can be far apart. Use the per-square-foot figures to sanity check a quote, not to
predict one.
Watch out for permit valuations. You will see building permit
valuation figures quoted as “what homes cost” in that neighborhood. They are
construction cost only and exclude the lot, so they run well below what a buyer
actually pays. This page deliberately does not publish them as prices.
Before you walk into a model home
One thing matters more than any number on this page. The friendly agent at the
builder’s model home works for the builder, not for you. Most builders require you to
register your own agent on your first visit, and showing up alone can
forfeit your representation in that community for the whole transaction.
Bringing your own agent almost never raises your price. The builder has already
budgeted for it. What it gets you is someone reading the builder contract, pricing the
upgrades against resale value, and holding the walkthrough punch list to a standard.
That is what I do on the new construction side, and it comes from having done
whole-house remodels on my own rental and investment properties, managing and paying
the crews myself.
See also the list of home builders working in Lincoln,
with the developments each one publishes and what little of their pricing is public.
More on how I run a purchase and sale together in the Move-Up Method,
and how I handle negotiation.
Questions people ask
Where can you still build a new home in Lincoln, Nebraska?
Lincoln has roughly 10,987 approved single-family lots that have not been built on yet, spread across about 559 developments. Availability moves constantly as builders pull permits. The table on this page tracks the active developments with lots remaining, rebuilt from City of Lincoln planning records.
What does new construction cost per square foot in Lincoln NE?
Across recently built Lincoln homes that sold in the trailing sales window, the median worked out to about $306 per finished square foot, on a median sale price near $459,828 and a median size around 1,652 finished square feet. Per-development numbers vary widely, so the table breaks them out individually with the sample size behind each one.
How much does it cost to build a house in Lincoln, Nebraska?
There is no single number, because a build price depends on the lot, the plan, the finish level, and the builder. The honest way to anchor it is what comparable new homes actually sold for, which is what this page tracks. Be careful with building permit valuations quoted elsewhere: those reflect construction cost only and exclude the lot, so they read lower than what a buyer pays.
Which Lincoln neighborhoods have the most new construction?
Measured by single-family permits issued over the last three years, the most active developments include Dominion At Stevens Creek, Southwest Village Heights, Wandering Creek, Wilderness Hills, Grandview Estates. Activity and remaining lot counts both shift as sections build out, so the figures here are refreshed from the city’s permit and development records rather than typed in by hand.
Do I need my own agent to buy new construction in Lincoln?
The agent at a builder’s model home works for the builder. Most builders also require you to register your own agent on your first visit, so walking into a model home alone can cost you representation in that community for the entire transaction. Bringing your own agent generally does not raise your price, because the builder has already budgeted for it. Register on visit one.
Thinking about building in Lincoln?
Send me the development you are looking at and I will tell you what I know about
the builder, the lot, and what comparable homes there have actually sold for. No
pressure, and it is worth the call before your first model home visit, not after.
Sources and method.
Lot availability from the City of Lincoln Development Approval Tracking layer.
Permit activity from the city’s Residential New Construction Permits records covering
the previous three years. Square footage and property characteristics from the Lancaster
County Assessor tax parcel records. Sale prices from the Assessor’s recorded property
sales. Compiled 2026-07-27 and refreshed periodically. Figures describe physical and
market characteristics of new construction only.