Reconstruction costs in the US increased by 5.2% from last year

Total US reconstruction costs rose 5.2% from July 2023 to July 2024.

That’s a big increase over July 2022 to July 2023 cost growth (4.0%) and second quarter cost growth (1.6%) that Verisk released in its quarterly analysis of 360Value reconstruction for T3, which provides reconstruction cost trends at the national and state level.

Total rebuild costs include retail materials and labor.

The analysis shows that total residential costs increased by 4.9% from July 2023 to July 2024 and by 1.4% from April 2024 to July 2024.

Residential rebuilding costs increased year over year in all states.

New Hampshire had the largest increase (9.59%), followed by Colorado (9.05%) and Nebraska (6.37%). Nevada went from the lowest cost increase in April 2024 to the 12th highest in July 2024, with costs increasing 5.58% in the state year over year. South Dakota and North Dakota increased to 5^th and 14th highest. Vermont had the biggest drop, falling from No. 8 to No. 36, with a 4.13 percent increase in residential costs. Wisconsin moved from 30th to 50th with a 3.54 percent increase in costs, and Michigan dropped from 14th to 33rd with a 4.19 percent increase, the report shows.

Other highlights of the report include:

• Total commercial reconstruction costs increased 5.5% from July 2023 to July 2024 and 1.8% from April 2024 to July 2024. Commercial reconstruction costs increased at least 3.42% in all states.
• Materials costs increased by 4.35% from July 2023 to July 2024. Materials cost increases accelerate from 2023: The increase from January 2024 to July 2024 already exceeded the total increase for 2023, increasing by 1.75% from the 2023 total of 1.20%. If this trend continues, materials costs will increase by 3% in the US for 2024, more than double the increase in 2023.
• Combined hourly retail labor costs rose 4.3% from July 2023 to July 2024, down from their 6.2% increase from January 2023 to January 2024.
• For the first time in years, material costs rose more than labor costs: 4.35% for materials versus 4.31% for labor.