Construction costs for new housing in Portugal rose 3.4% in May compared to the same month in 2023, 0.1 percentage points higher than in April, the National Statistics Institute (INE) announced today.
According to INE, the price of materials fell by 0.3% year-on-year (identical to the previous month), while the cost of labor rose by 8.5%, 0.2 percentage points more than in April.
Labor costs contributed 3.6 percentage points (3.5 percentage points in the previous month) to the year-on-year rate of change in the New Housing Construction Cost Index (NHCI) and materials -0.2 percentage points (as in April).
According to the statistical institute, among the materials that had the most negative influence on the aggregate price variation were “coating, insulation and waterproofing materials” and “mild and galvanized steel sheet”, with decreases of around 15%, as well as “glass and mirrors”, “steel for concrete and heavy and light profiles” and “PVC pipes”, with decreases of around 10%.
In the opposite direction, “limestone and granite tiles”, “bitumen” and “consumption of energy products” stood out, with year-on-year increases of around 10%.
As for the monthly variation rate (or chain variation) of the ICCHN, it was 0.2% in May, 0.5 percentage points less than in April, with the cost of materials down 0.3% and labor up 0.7%.
The materials and labor components contributed -0.1 and 0.3 percentage points, respectively, to the monthly rate of change in the HICN (0.2 and 0.5 percentage points in April).
