New York Is The World's Most Expensive City For Construction

New York City has been awarded the unenviable gold medal for the world's highest building costs, according to the Turner & Townsend International Construction Market Survey. The research took stock of the construction industry in 91 markets across 42 countries.

According to the source’s analysis, it costs $5,723.1 to build on just a single square meter of land in New York City, when looking at the average cost of 11 types of building. This is up 5 percent from last year and means NYC has held onto its position as the most expensive market to build in for a second year in a row.

San Francisco follows in second position, with an average cost of $5,489 per m2. As this chart shows, the U.S. is overrepresented, with six of the top eight of the world’s most expensive cities to build in being based there. According to Turner & Townsend, the high building costs in the U.S. are being driven by factors such as sustained high prices for labor, machinery and equipment, as well as continued high demand.

In ninth and tenth position come Hong Kong at $4,500 per m2 and London at $4,473 per m2. In 2021, Tokyo had topped the ranking but now is notably absent. Analysts explain this is partly due to the twin effect of Japan having seen a devaluation of the yen, with the economy seeing only moderate growth since the pandemic, and strong inflation elsewhere resulting in a wider gap.