Construction costs continue to increase

ANKARA

The headline construction cost index increased by 3.97 percent on a monthly basis in May, easing from the 6.12 percent rise in the previous month, data from the Turkish Statistical Insitute (TÜİK) have shown.

The annual increase in the construction cost index also slowed from 106.6 percent in April to 105.7 percent, TÜİK said.

Material costs were up 4.97 percent month-on-month for an annual increase of 130.7 percent, while labor costs in the construction industry increased by 0.18 percent monthly and 44.7 percent annually.

TÜİK also reported that the building construction cost index rose by 3.84 percent in May compared with the previous month and went up by 103.5 percent compared with the same month of the previous year. In April, the annual increase in the building construction cost index was 103.5 percent.

The cost of materials used in the construction of buildings advanced by 4.88 percent in May from April and increased by 126.6 percent from the same month of 2021.

A recent Central Bank data showed that residential property prices increased 10.2 percent monthly and rose 127 percent annually in April.

The real annual increase in residential property prices was 34.9 percent, the bank said.

In Istanbul, residential property prices climbed 142 percent in the month from a year ago, while in Ankara, the annual rise was 131 percent, and in İzmir, the country’s third-largest city, it was 123 percent.

The presidential property price index for new dwellings and existing dwellings rose by 131 percent and 127 percent, respectively, in April from a year ago.

Some 123,000 homes were sold in Türkiye in May, rising by a strong 107.5 percent compared with the same month of 2021. From January to May, home sales grew by 37.7 percent yearly to 575, 889 units.