Spain 
Italy 
Greece 
New Housing Construction Costs Slow
9 August 2017
The National Institute of Statistics (INE) revealed that the annual rate of change in the New Housing Construction Cost Index was +1.5% in June, while the Regular Housing Maintenance and Repair Price Index showed a year-on-year rate of change of +2.8%.
According to the INE, the New Housing Construction Cost Index increased by only 1.5% in June, 0.2 p.p. lower than in May.
The deceleration in construction costs was caused by a reduction of 0.5 pp in the rate of change of Materials prices, which came in at +0.7% in June. The year-on-year change in the Labour Force Index remained at 2.1%.
The same source shows that the year-on-year changes in the indices for Apartments and Houses were both 1.5% (1.7% and 1.8% in the previous month, respectively).
Regarding the Regular Housing Maintenance and Repair Price Index, it registered a year-on-year increase of 2.8% in June, a rate 0.2 p.p. higher than that observed in May.
The Products and Services indices both rose by 0.2 p.p. compared to the previous month, at rates of 1.0% and 3.3%, respectively.
In the month under review, all NUTS II regions on the Mainland presented increases in the prices of regular maintenance and repair of housing, except for Alentejo, which fell by 0.1% in relation to the same period of the previous year. The highest annual rate of change was observed in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area (4.6%).
Original Story: Magazine Imobiliário
Photo: Anabela Loureiro
Translation: Richard Turner