In the last quarter of 2024, San Francisco, New York, and Honolulu were some of the U.S. cities with the highest housing construction costs. Meanwhile, Phoenix had one of the lowest construction costs for high-end multifamily homes at 280 U.S. dollars per square foot and Las Vegas for single-family homes between 235 and 470 U.S. dollars per square foot. Construction cost disparities As seen here, the construction cost for a high-end multi-family home in San Francisco in the first quarter of 2024 was over twice more expensive than in Phoenix. Meanwhile, there were also great differences in the cost of building a single-family house in New York and in Portland or Seattle. Some factors that may cause these disparities are the construction materials, installation, and composite costs, differing land values, wages, etc. For example, although the price of construction materials in the U.S. was rising at a slower level than in 2022 and 2023, several materials that are essential in most construction projects had growth rates of over five percent in 2024. Growing industry revenue Despite the economic uncertainty and other challenges, the size of the private construction market in the U.S. rose during the past years. It is important to consider that supply and demand for housing influences the revenue of this segment of the construction market. On the supply side, single-family home construction fell in 2023, but it is expected to rise in 2024 and 2025. On the demand side, some of the U.S. metropolitan areas with the highest sale prices of single-family homes were located in California, with San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara at the top of the ranking.

This table contains 192 series, with data for years 1956 - 1993 (not all combinations necessarily have data for all years), and was last released on 2007-04-13. This table contains data described by the following dimensions (Not all combinations are available): Geography (10 items: Canada; Nova Scotia; New Brunswick; Newfoundland and Labrador ...), Type of construction (4 items: Total; all types of construction; Grading; Granular base courses; Paving ...), Highway construction price indexes (3 items: Total; contract work and materials; All contract work; All materials supplied ...), Index base period (3 items: 1986=100;1981=100;1971=100 ...).

In 2023, Texas had the highest construction spending by the state and local governments in the United States. Meanwhile, those government levels spent 46 billion U.S. dollars in California, which was a much higher amount than in New York, Florida, or any other state. It is important to consider, nevertheless, that these figures do not show the total construction output of the territory, but only public spending by those government levels.What elements determine construction value?Several factors play into the value of the construction put in place such as the costs in which each project incurs. Contractors facing shortages in construction materials or a rise in their cost are some of the situations that can cause an increase in the construction value. It is also necessary to factor in the cost of labor of construction workers in non-supervisory and in managerial positions, as well as that of specialized workers such as engineers and architects. Finally, taxes and fees, the contractor’s profit, and other costs are also considered.Which states have the highest construction costs?Some of the U.S. cities with the highest costs for construction materials, installation, and composite correspond to the states with more value of construction put in place. Similarly, the wages in the private construction sector of those U.S. states, such as New York, California, and Texas, were also above the national average. Although Florida ranks low in the aforementioned aspects, it has been one of the states with the most residential building permits issued during the last couple of years.

In the last quarter of 2024, Portland and San Francisco were some of the most expensive cities in the United States for the construction of general hospitals. The cost of building a hospital in Portland ranged between 900 and 1,200 U.S. dollars. Boston and Los Angeles were the next cities in the ranking. Meanwhile, Las Vegas was one of the cheapest city in the list to build a general hospital.

The average price per square foot of floor space in new single-family housing in the United States decreased after the great financial crisis, followed by several years of stagnation. Since 2012, the price has continuously risen, hitting 168 U.S. dollars per square foot in 2022. In 2024, the average sales price of a new home exceeded 500,000 U.S. dollars. Development of house sales in the U.S. One of the reasons for rising property prices is the gradual growth of house sales between 2011 and 2020. This period was marked by the gradual recovery following the subprime mortgage crisis and a growing housing sentiment. Another significant factor for the housing demand was the growing number of new household formations each year. Despite this trend, housing transactions plummeted in 2021, amid soaring prices and borrowing costs. In 2021, the average construction cost for single-family housing rose by nearly 12 percent year-on-year, and in 2022, the increase was even higher, at close to 17 percent. Financing a house purchase Mortgage interest rates in the U.S. rose dramatically in 2022 and remained elevated until 2024. In 2020, a homebuyer could lock in a 30-year fixed interest rate of under three percent, whereas in 2024, the average rate for the same mortgage type was more than twice higher. That has led to a decline in homebuyer sentiment, and an increasing share of the population pessimistic about buying a home in the current market.

Commercial property prices in the U.S. increased plateaued in 2023 after a period of rapid growth between 2014 and 2021. In the third quarter of 2023, the commercial property price index equaled 207.61 index points, reflecting a double increase in prices since 2010, which was the baseline year for the index. How have prices of different property types developed over the past years? After more than a decade of uninterrupted growth, office real estate prices started to decline in 2022, reflecting a decline in occupier demand and a tougher lending environment. Industrial real estate prices, which have grown rapidly over the past few years, also experienced a correction in late 2022. Retail real estate prices displayed most resilience amid the difficult economic environment, with the equal weighed repeat sales index remaining stable. How much is invested in new commercial properties? The value of commercial real estate construction has been on the rise since 2010 in the United States. This trend mirrors the recovery seen across all economic sectors after the 2007-2009 recession. However, investment volumes in commercial property vary by type, with private office space, warehouses, and retails reading the pack.