World's most expensive places to build

New research by Turner & Townsend has revealed the world's most expensive places to build.

In the study, the average cost of 6 different types of buildings is evaluated. These are the following:

• Apartment high-rise
• Office block prestige
• Large warehouse distribution center
• General hospital
• Primary and secondary school
• Shopping center including mall

It was identified that the most high-priced cities and their average construction cost per square meter were:

1. New York (3,900 $/m²)
2. San Francisco (3,736.7 $/m²)
3. Hong Kong (3,703.9 $/m²)
4. Zurich (3,652 $/m²)
5. London (3,617.7 $/m²)

In particular, despite building cost decreased in 2017 as a result of an all-time high in 2016, New York remained the most expensive city to build in the world. Technological development that provokes wealth and demand sets San Francisco in the 2^nd position. Infrastructure growth raised further the high construction cost of Hong Kong which moved ahead of Zurich in the 3^rd place. On the other side, in Zurich, construction cost remained stable as balance between supply and demand was established in the market. In 5^th place, London consists, by far, the most expensive city in UK. With construction cost inflation at 3.9% and high demand tendency, the cost in expected to rise more in the next years.

On the other hand, the cities with the lowest construction costs are:

1. Bangalore (638.5 $/m²)
2. Nairobi (724.1 $/m²)
3. Istanbul (765.1 $/m²)
4. Ho Chi Minh City (775.8 $/m²)
5. Beijing (804.7 $/m²)

However, researchers state that the method to calculate the prices is dependent on the exchange rate of each country's currency. Therefore, the building cost in countries with weak currency may be underestimated.

Source: Turnerandtownsend.com