Japanese cities some of the most expensive locations for buildings

Tokyo, Osaka and Fukuoka ranked in Top 10 of Whitestone's building expenses rankings.

In its annual study, Whitestone ranked building expenses (not including rent) for the world's major office building markets across 168 cities. The highest costs for a typical office building are $22.61 USD per square foot in Zurich, while lowest costs are $2.54 in Minsk.

Below are the most expensive and least expensive cities on this year's list:

Most Expensive

Rank City - Total
1 Zurich, Switzerland - $22.61
2 Geneva, Switzerland - $22.05
3 Tokyo, Japan - $18.99
4 Honolulu, United States - $18.01
5 Osaka, Japan - $17.71
6 Vienna, Austria - $16.64
7 Sydney, Australia - $16.55
8 Fukuoka, Japan - $15.77
9 New York, United States - $15.73
10 Copenhagen, Denmark - $15.33

Least Expensive

Rank City Total
159 Bangalore, India - $3.50
160 Buenos Aires, Argentina - $3.38
161 Kiev, Ukraine - $3.18
162 Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam - $3.16
163 Hanoi, Vietnam - $3.13
164 Chennai, India - $2.88
165 Kolkata, India - $2.81
166 Hyderabad, India - $2.81
167 Kabul, Afghanistan - $2.57
168 Minsk, Belarus - $2.54

The reported costs are for a model 2 Story Office building, and all costs are reported in $USD using May 30, 2012 exchange rates,  according to Whitstone.