Construction costs inched up in the first quarter, but at a slower rate than they have recently, a new report found.
The national average change in construction costs was 0.98 percent. That’s down from 1.11 percent in the fourth quarter of 2024, according to the Quarterly Construction Cost Report from construction advisory firm Rider Levett Bucknall.
Compared to this time last year, construction costs are up 4.35 percent, but that is also down from the year-over-year rate of 5.86 percent in 2024.
While news of President Trump’s wide-reaching tariffs has shaken the stock market, the changes have yet to be felt in the construction industry, the report noted. The industry could further be insulated from the effects of the tariffs since about 70 percent of construction material is sourced domestically, according to the firm, which added that rising labor costs is the bigger concern for the industry.
Chicago and Honolulu were the markets that the firm tracks where construction costs grew the most year over year, by 5.47 percent and 5.37 percent, respectively. The markets with the lowest changes were Los Angeles (3.58 percent) and New York (3.77 percent).
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