Off topic, what led you to snag "the_economist" for BuildZoom?

That is attributed entirely to increased labor costs and almost all of that in increasingly large urban centers (which also have a lot of construction).

So basically.... Apples to apples it hasn't gone up. It's simply that people are buying more construction in urban areas.

yes, that's probably about right (based on my remembrance leading product for cost estimators widely used in appraisal & assessment). construction costs tended to beat inflation by a bit, enough to compound to 50%-ish over 60-70 years.