With construction worker wages hitting US$100 per hour, New York City has become the most expensive place in the world to build. On top of this labor cost, other construction expenditures help to boost the average cost of building in New York to 354 U.S. dollars per foot.

New York is not alone among U.S. cities as being the most expensive site to build in. In a recently released market survey conducted by Turner & Townsend, Seattle and Houston are also in the top ten list of one of the most expensive cities in the world to build in. Their average costs come out to $280 and $233 per foot.

Costs increased by 3.5% from 2017 figures. These burgeoning construction expenses are attributed to currency fluctuations, in addition to labor shortages in hot markets. This is reflected by the $100 per hour labor cost in New York, where the global …