_Brisbane and Perth the most affordable cities in Australia for office fitout costs: Knight Frank

The firm’s Asia-Pacific Fit-Out Cost Guide 2026*, which tracks workplace spending across 23 cities covering Australasia, East Asia, Southeast Asia, and India, found costs were expected to rise between 2% to 5% over the next 12 months amid tightening labour markets, sustainability requirements and
global trade uncertainty.

Sustainability requirements are no longer a nice-to-have; they are now an expectation. Across Asia Pacific, green building certifications, energy monitoring and tighter material compliance are raising baseline fit-out costs. In markets such as Singapore and Sydney, an ESG-aligned fit-out is increasingly the starting point, not the upgrade, pushing demand for specialists in sustainability systems and smart workplace technology into an already tight labour market.

The research found that within Australia, fit-out costs were found to be the highest in Sydney at an average of $US1,334 per square metre, followed by Melbourne ($US$1,300/sq m), Brisbane and Perth (both $US934/sq m).

Across APAC, Sydney was ranked in 6th place for average fit-out costs, followed by Melbourne in 7th place, while Brisbane and Perth tied for 9th place.

Singapore ranked as the most expensive city for office fit-out in Asia-Pacific. At an average of US$2,029 per square metre, Singapore's fit-out costs edge ahead of Tokyo (US$1,994/sq m) and Taipei (US$1,593/sq m). Phnom Penh, at US$375/sq m, sits at the other end of the range, a spread that illustrates just how varied workplace investment conditions are across the region.

Average fit-out costs across Asia-Pacific

Knight Frank Australia’s National Head of Project Management Mark Blinco said: “Fit-out costs in Australasia reflect the characteristics of a mature, high-quality office market, with pricing increasingly shaped by labour availability, specification intensity and ESG expectations.

“The Australian office market is at very different points in its cycle depending on what capital city you look at. We have Sydney, where fitout costs remain high and will likely continue to grow due to labour and material cost pressures, but also softer markets like Brisbane and Perth where costs remain
steady but are overall more manageable, even with infrastructure booms underway for the Olympics in
2032.

“Melbourne remains a close second in terms of overall fitout costs, with longer than expected COVID19 shutdowns still affecting return to office mandates, meaning many clients aren’t yet needing to refurbish space. However this is expected to change in coming years, which will push up fitout costs to be on par with Sydney.”

Knight Frank Head of Project Management Queensland Paul Kennedy said: “Brisbane’s average fit-out cost places it below Sydney and Melbourne, keeping the city attractive for occupiers managing capital budgets, however broader construction cost escalation is unavoidable.

“Brisbane’s tender price uplift is forecast at circa five per cent in 2026, driven by sustained activity, supply chain strain and major infrastructure programs. Labour shortages reinforce this pressure. Queensland faces a construction workforce shortfall peaking near 50,000 workers in 2026–27,
elevating risks of delays and cost overruns.

“The bottom line is that Brisbane remains a cost efficient yet increasingly supply constrained CBD, where quality space and delivery certainty will command a premium. For occupiers, the winners will be those who plan early, lock scope tightly and align workplace strategy with both ESG commitments and a rapidly changing construction landscape.”

Francesco Demarco, Head of Global Portfolio Solutions, Asia-Pacific, Knight Frank, added: "For occupiers managing portfolios across multiple Asia-Pacific markets, the challenge is no longer simply controlling fit-out costs; it is understanding why those costs are moving and what that means for longterm portfolio strategy. The return on capital investment is increasingly harder to justify. Labour constraints, sustainability compliance, and trade-related material pressures are structural; they will not
resolve quickly. Therefore, the smart approach is to integrate fit-out planning into broader portfolio
decisions from the outset, aligning specification levels with business requirements, and using crossmarket cost data to make more informed capital investment decisions."

To view Knight Frank’s Asia-Pacific Fit-Out Cost Guide 2026 click here.

* The firm’s Asia-Pacific Fit-Out Cost Guide 2026 benchmarks fit-out costs at three specification levels: basic, mid/standard, and high/premium. Produced in partnership with specialist cost consultants including Platform Consulting Group, Currie Brown, and Cova, it draws on market data gathered during Q4 2025.