In 2023, the costs of building new housing rose by 3.9%. But, according to data released by INE this Friday, they suffered a sharp slowdown of 8.3 percentage points compared to the year-on-year increase of 12.2% recorded in 2022.

INE data reported by ECO also reveal that last year, costs slowed down with the slowdown in materials and labour rates. In 2023, they recorded average annual increases of 0.9% and 8.1%, respectively. In 2022 they had risen 16.7% and 6.3% in the same order.

The monthly figures also indicate that in December the year-on-year variation in the New Housing Construction Cost Index stood at 1.8%, falling 0.6 percentage points compared to November.

In the last month of 2023, material prices fell by 2.2% (-1.7% in the previous month), this being the biggest monthly price reduction since at least 2020. Labour costs increased by 7 .5%, 0.7 percentage points below that recorded in November.