New Crane Index, Quarterly Cost Report from Rider Levett Bucknall

Rider Levett Bucknall has released its latest Crane Index and Quarterly Cost Report, providing an eye-opening perspective on the North American construction industry in 14 key markets.

The latest report, with data current to mid-third quarter of 2024, shows the national average increase in construction costs was 1.07%, the lowest it’s been in the last three years. Boston, Massachusetts; Denver, Colorado; Honolulu, Hawaii; New York, New York; Seattle, Washington and Washington, D.C. all experienced increases over the national average this quarter. Chicago, Illinois; Las Vegas, Nevada; Los Angeles, California; Phoenix, Arizona; Portland, Oregon and San Francisco, California experienced gains that were less than the national average.

“Our research shows that the trend of construction cost inflation continues declining and is the lowest it’s been in three years,” says Paul Brussow, president of RLB North America. “The recent interest rate cut is good news for the construction industry, particularly the private sector. While we won’t see an immediate impact, this move is likely to encourage investment in new projects as we head into 2025.”

Crane index notes

• Calgary, Alberta (Canada); Chicago, Honolulu, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Toronto, Ontario (Canada) and Washington, D.C. have seen an increase in crane counts
• Denver, Los Angeles and New York City are holding steady in their crane counts
• Cities with a decrease include Boston, Portland, San Francisco and Seattle

Quarterly cost report notes

• The U.S. quarterly national average increase in construction cost is approximately 1.07%, compared to 4.91% year-over-year
• The construction unemployment rate is 3.2%, down .7% from the same period last year
• The Architectural Billings Index in August was 45.7, a continued decrease from 48.2 in July

Read the complete QCR report here and the Crane Index here.