This is a year-on-year figure higher than that seen in July (2.1%) and lower than that in June (2.9%). A year ago, in August 2022, the year-on-year rate of change in the New Housing Construction Cost Index (ICCHN) was much higher: 12.2%.

“In August, the year-on-year variation in the New Housing Construction Cost Index (ICCHN) stood at 2.5%, a rate 0.4 pp higher than that observed in July. The prices of materials showed a variation of -0.7% (-1.5% in the previous month) and the cost of labor increased by 7.1%, 0.1 p.p. less than in July”, reads the INE bulletin.

According to the institute, the cost of labor contributed 2.9 p.p. (3.0 p.p. in the previous month) to the formation of the ICCHN year-on-year rate of change and materials with -0.4 p.p. (-0.9 p.p. in July).