Soaring prices in Brisbane’s construction market – which has overtaken Perth to become the second-most expensive in the country – will prompt 2032 Olympic Games organisers to minimise costs and could trigger a wider change in procurement of infrastructure.

A 6.5 per cent increase last year – more than in any other city – lifted Brisbane’s average construction cost to $US2802 per square metre, ahead of Perth’s $US2694 and second only to Sydney’s $US3107, consultancy Turner & Townsend’s International Construction Market Survey 2024 report shows.