At the start of the year, new housing construction costs rose by 3.1% year-on-year, mainly driven by the cost of labor, which rose by 6.9%, the Instituto Nacional de Estatística (INE)announced on Monday. The price of materials rose by 0.2% year-on-year in January.
In December, the Construction Cost Index for New Housing (ICCHN) recorded a year-on-year increase of 4.2%, with a 0.6% rise in the price of materials and an 8.7% rise in the price of labor.
In January, the cost of labor contributed 3.0 percentage points (3.9 percentage points in the previous month) to the formation of the year-on-year rate of change in the ICCHN and materials contributed 0.1 percentage points (0.3 percentage points in December), according to INE.
Among the materials that most positively influenced the aggregate price variation were Bitumen and Ready-mixed Concrete, with rises of close to 10%. On the other hand, wood and wood derivatives, glass and mirrors and sanitary ware fell by more than 10%, while steel pipes, cast iron pipes and plumbing fixtures and mild and galvanized steel sheet fell by around 10%.
As for the ICCHN's monthly rate of change, it was 0.8% in January 2025, 0.7 percentage points up on the previous month. The cost of materials rose by 0.6% and labor by 1.0%. Labor contributed 0.5 percentage points to the formation of the ICCHN's monthly rate of change and materials 0.3 percentage points.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
