Dive summary:

• Limited capacity among big contractors in urban areas helped to push up the Turner Construction Company Building Cost Index for the second three months of this year, the company said in releasing the information.
• The index, which gives a national picture of costs but not regional conditions, stood at 859 at the end of May, which is 4% above where it was 12 months earlier and 1.18% above the previous quarter.
• Global demand for material and equipment is pulling down costs somewhat, Turner said, but that is offset by growth in both costs for certain burgeoning types of buildings, such as data centers.

From the article:

"Contributing to the increase in construction costs is the limited capacity among those trade contractors with the available resources to manage and work on large, complex projects," said Karl F. Almstead, the Turner vice president in charge of the Cost Index. ...