The Burrow
Jun 11, 2026
As housing markets rise, trying to get your foot in the door can be increasingly difficult, not to mention expensive, especially when constructing your home from scratch.
Where you decide you want to build your new home is one of the most important decisions in the process. But did you know, it can also have a huge impact on the cost of construction due to factors such as the cost of importing materials, land availability, and how accessible certain areas are.1
This means that even if you built the exact same home in different cities, variation in construction costs means the amount you’ll pay likely won’t be the same.
Our home and contents insurance comparison experts at Compare the Market have analysed 67 cities worldwide to identify where building residential dwellings is the most expensive per square metre, and how construction costs have changed in the last twelve months.
| Ranking | City | Average residential construction cost per M2 (AUD) | Tender Price Index (%) |
| 1 | Hong Kong, SAR | $8.880.00 | -2.5% |
| 2 | Honolulu, USA | $4,777.67 | 5.6% |
| 3 | Portland, USA | $4,742.72 | 4.5% |
| 4 | New York, USA | $4,550.49 | 4.0% |
| 5 | Boston, USA | $4,442.15 | 4.1% |
| 6 | San Francisco, USA | $4,232.45 | 3.8% |
| 7 | Seattle, USA | $4,138.08 | 4.5% |
| 8 | Minneapolis, USA | $3,875.96 | 4.5% |
| 9 | Oslo, Norway | $3,819.22 | n/a |
| 10 | Los Angeles, USA | $3,760.62 | 4.1% |
| 11 | Chicago, USA | $3,725.67 | 3.8% |
| 12 | Singapore | $3,700.35 | 3.5% |
| 13 | Washington D.C., USA | $3,648.78 | 4.2% |
| 14 | Wellington, New Zealand | $3,637.55 | 1.5% |
| 15 | Copenhagen, Denmark | $3,534.81 | n/a |
| 16 | Seoul, South Korea | $3,518.07 | 1.3% |
| 17 | Las Vegas, USA | $3,421.61 | 4.6% |
| 18 | Nashville, USA | $3,386.66 | 4.8% |
| 19 | Denver, USA | $3,386.66 | 4.5% |
| 20 | Townsville, Australia | $3,300.00 | 6.0% |
| 21 | Dublin, Republic of Ireland | $3,250.40 | n/a |
| 22 | Madrid, Spain | $3,250.40 | n/a |
| 23 | Warsaw, Poland | $3,250.40 | n/a |
| 24 | Toronto, Canada | $3,229.76 | 5.5% |
| 25 | London, England | $3,142.51 | 3.4% |
| 26 | Perth, Australia | $3,100.00 | 5.4% |
| 27 | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | $3,017.25 | 5.2% |
| 28 | Phoenix, USA | $3,009.20 | 4.6% |
| 29 | Brisbane, Australia | $2,966.67 | 5.0% |
| 30 | Gold Coast, Australia | $2,966.67 | 4.9% |
| 31 | Calgary, Canada | $2,934.54 | 5.1% |
| 32 | Miami, USA | $2,858.91 | 4.3% |
| 33 | Dallas, USA | $2,858.91 | 3.9% |
| 34 | Austin, USA | $2,785.52 | 4.3% |
| 35 | Melbourne, Australia | $2,766.67 | 4.0% |
| 36 | Amsterdam, The Netherlands | $2,714.08 | N/A |
| 37 | Darwin, Australia | $2,566.67 | 5.0% |
| 38 | Paris, France | $2,519.06 | N/A |
| 39 | Prague, Czech Republic | $2,519.06 | N/A |
| 40 | Sydney, Australia | $2,500.00 | 4.3% |
| 41 | Berlin, Germany | $2,421.55 | N/A |
| 42 | Adelaide, Australia | $2,316.67 | 4.2% |
| 43 | Christchurch, New Zealand | $2,297.40 | 0.6% |
| 44 | Auckland, New Zealand | $2,297.40 | -0.4% |
| 45 | Canberra, Australia | $2,216.67 | 4.0% |
| 46 | Budapest, Hungary | $2,080.26 | N/A |
| 47 | Doha, Qatar | $1,936.68 | 3.0% |
| 48 | Edinburgh, Scotland | $1,909.31 | 3.2% |
| 49 | Lisbon, Portugal | $1,868.98 | N/A |
| 50 | Athens, Greece | $1,836.48 | N/A |
| 51 | Podgorica, Montenegro | $1,714.59 | N/A |
| 52 | Dubai, United Arab Emirates | $1,709.12 | 3.5% |
| 53 | Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates | $1,674.64 | 3.2% |
| 54 | Durban, South Africa | $1,526.40 | 5.2% |
| 55 | Maputo, Mozambique | $1,519.27 | N/A |
| 56 | Port Louis, Mauritius | $1,344.59 | 5.2% |
| 57 | Beijing, China | $1,204.00 | -0.7% |
| 58 | Shanghai, China | $1,197.00 | -1.5% |
| 59 | Shenzhen, China | $1,197.00 | -2.3% |
| 60 | Cape Town, South Africa | $1,187.20 | 4.7% |
| 61 | Chengdu, China | $1,064.00 | -2.2% |
| 62 | Guangzhou, China | $1,001.00 | -1.7% |
| 63 | Johannesburg, South Africa | $907.36 | 5.6% |
| 64 | Gaborone, Botswana | $862.75 | N/A |
| 65 | Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam | $728.87 | 5.1% |
| 66 | Manila, Philippines | $695.49 | N/A |
| 67 | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | $387.20 | 3.0% |
When it comes to the most expensive city for building and construction, Hong Kong comes in an easy first place at AU$8,880 per square metre. Interestingly, there may be hope on the horizon, with Hong Kong also having the lowest TPI at -2.5%, showing a decrease in costs in the last twelve months.
The second most expensive falls to Honolulu, with the cost per square metre coming in at AU$4,777.67, and US city Portland following close behind at AU$4,742.72.
The USA continues to dominate most of the top ten most expensive cities, with New York, Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, Minneapolis and Los Angeles also making the list. Oslo, Norway is the exception, coming in at number nine and costing AU$3,819.22 per square metre.
In the top ten, San Francisco had the lowest growth in costs year-on-year, at 3.8%.
Unlike the most expensive cities for building or constructing a home, the cheapest cities showed a broader spread across the globe. The number one cheapest city to build is Kuala Lumpur Malaysia, where the cost per square metre is AU$387.20. South-east Asia takes out the next two spots, with Manila in the Philippines placing second (AU$695.49 per square metre) and Hoi Chi Minh City Vietnam landing in third (AU$728.87 per square metre).
In fourth we have Gaborone, the capital of Botswana, where the average build cost is AU$862.75 per square metre. Rounding out the top five cheapest cities for building at AU$907.36 is Johannesburg, South Africa.
South Africa appears twice in the cheapest top ten, with Johannesburg placing fifth cheapest, and Cape Town placing eighth. China, however, takes out the remainder of the top ten with Guangzhou (sixth place), Chengdu (seventh place), Shenzhen (ninth place) and Shanghai (number ten).
To understand how construction costs have changed over time, Compare the Market has looked at the Tender Price Index (TPI) percentage, which shows an average of how costs have changed over time. Our study looked at how prices changed across the available cities over the last twelve months.
With the strongest increase, Townsville takes the crown for the first place. In the last year, average construction costs have risen by as much as 6%. This puts a strain on what is currently the most expensive Australian city to build in at AU$3,300 per square metre.
Honolulu has taken second place on both rankings, with building expenses rising 5.6% in the past year. In third, also with an increase of 5.6%, is Johannesburg, demonstrating that while prices in this city are currently among the lowest on our list, prices are rising faster than in most other cities.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong sees the biggest decrease in costs with a TPI of -2.5%, followed by the Chinese cities of Shenzhen at -2.3% and Chengdu at -2.2%.
We’ve already established that Townsville is at the top of the Australian ranking for both construction costs and the highest TPI percentage, but following close behind is Perth. The West Australian capital city costs AU$3,100 per square metre, while Brisbane completes the top three at AU$2,966.67.
Moving to the other end of the ranking, the cheapest city for building is Canberra with costs averaging AU$2,216.67 per square metre, with a change of 4% in the last twelve months. The second cheapest city is Adelaide at AU$2,316.67, and Sydney comes in third at AU$2,500.
While Europe only had one city in the top ten most expensive, staying mostly middle ground for construction and building expenses, let’s look at which European cities pay more than others.
As we established earlier, Oslo is the most expensive European city for building a home costing. Staying in the North, Copenhagen sits in second place at AU$3,524.81. Finally, Dublin, Madrid and Poland all tie for third place, with construction averaging AU$3,250.40 per square metre for each of these European cities.
On the other end of the spectrum, we have the Capital of Montenegro, Podgorica, as the cheapest place to build, with the cost per square metre coming in at AU$1,714.59, the lowest for all of Europe. Next, costing an average of AU$1,836.48 per square metre, is Athens, while Lisbon places only just behind at AU$1,868.98.
The change in construction costs don’t just impact new homeowners, in fact, existing homeowners are also at risk if their homes aren’t adequately insured in the event they need to rebuild, or even if you’re planning to renovate.
Chief Executive of General Insurance, Adrian Taylor, explains the importance of staying on top of your home and contents insurance policy.
“Your insurer may cover the cost of replacing your home and its contents up to the sum insured stated in your policy if it is destroyed or damaged and needs to be rebuilt. If this amount is inaccurate or out-of-date, your insurer might not cover the full cost, and any remaining expenses to rebuild your home will need to be paid by you.
“When making any changes that impact the value of your home, your insurer needs to be informed. If you’ve renovated or added an extension to the building, then the value may have increased, so the amount insured may need to increase as well.”
When taking out or updating your policy, it’s a good idea to read the Target Market Determination (TMD) and the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) for information on inclusions, exclusions and limits relating to insuring your home and its contents.
The data in the page was manually pulled from River Levett’s online Construction Cost Indicator and TPI % tools. Construction costs per metre were sourced from various types of residential dwellings for each city and then averaged to create a city-specific average residential construction cost in dollars per square metre.
The Tender Price Index was not available for every city on our ranking. When not available, an ‘n/a’ was placed in the column instead. For this reason, we analysed the two data types separately. The presence or absence of the TPI % does not impact the cost per square metre data.
Costs were converted into AUD on 21/05/2026 and are subject to change.
The TPI % change tool provides an average change to construction tender prices from May 2025 to May 2026 and are subject to change.
You can view a previous version on building cost increases from 2025 here and from 2023 here.