Construction costs rise more than 9 percent in July

ANKARA

The construction cost index exhibited a 9.2 percent increase on an annual basis in July, Turkey’s statistics authority (TÜİK) reported on Sept. 10.

Construction costs rose 0.95 percent in the month from June, data also showed.

The annual increase in construction costs was 7.5 percent in June.

The materials index and the labor index surged nearly 7 percent and 15 percent, respectively, year on year in the month.

TÜİK also reported that the building construction cost index showed a 9.6 percent rise in July compared with the same month of 2019, picking up from the 8 percent increase in June.

The cost of materials used in building construction increased more than 7 percent on an annual basis.

Environment and Urbanization Minister Murat Kurum recently said Turkey was looking for ways to produce imported construction materials inside the country.

“State-owned participation bank Emlak Katılım Bankası and state-owned real estate investment trust Emlak Konut will undertake investments, which will facilitate the local production of the imported construction materials and other goods including elevators and escalators,” Kurum said.

People from the industry reckoned that local production of construction materials may result in a 15 percent to 20 percent decline in construction costs, which in return can bring down home prices in the medium to longer-term.