By Rider Levett Bucknall
International property and construction consultancy firm Rider Levett Bucknall has released its new Quarterly Cost Report for North America. With data current to mid-Q2 2021 and featuring construction cost information for 14 US and Canadian markets, the QCR provides a statistical view of the state of the construction industry, detailing indicative construction costs for eight building sectors.
Market Highlights:
- RLB reports that from January 2021 to April 2021, the U.S. national average increase in construction costs was approximately 2.91 percent (11.64 percent annualized). This is the largest quarter-to-quarter increase since RLB has reported QCR data (the previous high was 2.75 percent in April 2004);
- While the annualized rate is 11.64 percent, the year-over-year increase is a more “normal” 4.35 percent;
- Boston (3.07 percent), Chicago (4.67 percent), New York (3.38 percent), Phoenix (4.29 percent), Portland (3.90 percent), and Washington DC (3.48 percent) are the markets with cost increases above the national average during the second quarter;
- Markets seeing construction cost increases below the national average during the second quarter include Denver (1.49 percent), Honolulu (0.92 percent), Los Angeles (2.79 percent), San Francisco (2.15 percent), and Seattle (1.81 percent)
Key Fiscal Barometers
- The S. Consumer Price Index shows a year-over-year increase, and is up 1.70 percent from the previous quarter;
- The S. Gross Domestic Product remains higher than normal, increasing from 4.3 percent in Q4 2020 to 6.4 percent in Q1 2021;
- The Architectural Billings Index reports its first index above 50 since Q4 2019, with a 55.6 reading in March 2021.
Read the complete Rider Levett Bucknall QCR Q2 report here.