New York City remains the priciest place to build

Turner & Townsend’s 2026 international construction market survey shows New York City is the most expensive place in which to build in the world. This is the fourth consecutive year the city has been No. 1.

San Francisco remained at No. 2 for the fourth consecutive year. Two other U.S. cities—Los Angeles and Chicago—made the top 10.

Following is the full list of the 10 most expensive cities in which to build and their average build cost per square meter, according to the survey.

1. New York City ($7,937 per square meter)
2. San Francisco ($7,883 per square meter)
3. Geneva ($6,985 per square meter)
4. Zurich ($6,917 per square meter)
5. London ($6,032 per square meter)
6. Los Angeles ($5,941 per square meter)
7. Tokyo ($5,801 per square meter)
8. Osaka, Japan ($5,539 per square meter)
9. Sapporo, Japan ($5,476 per square meter)
10. Chicago ($5,460 per square meter)

In the 2025 report, there were only five markets where the average cost to build exceeded $5,000 per square meter; this year, the average cost to build exceeded $5,000 per square meter in all of the top 10 markets.