Cost of building materials spike 17%

The cost of building materials in Cyprus continues to rise, while the Central Bank warned the war in Ukraine will only make things worse for the construction industry.

According to the Cyprus Statistical Service data, the Price Index of Construction Materials recorded a significant increase of 17.68% in the year’s first quarter.

Increases were recorded across the board, from steel, cement, sand, stone aggregates, and wood-based materials have seen big price increases of 19.08% in March from 2021.

There were large price increases for metals, wood products, insulation, chemicals, plastics, and electromechanical items.

By main commodity category, increases were recorded in metallic products (31.60%), products of wood, insulation materials, chemicals, and plastics (20.87%), electromechanical products (14.79%), minerals (7.38%) and mineral products (6.68%).

Cyprus Central Bank said the war in Ukraine and supply chain problems affecting international trade are expected to push real estate construction costs even higher, negatively affecting demand.

According to the Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC), the annual cost of building materials has gone up by 17.3% in March compared to last year.

This will also affect housing and business loans related to the construction industry.

CBC said property prices in Cyprus had not shown the same upward trends observed in other Eurozone countries, except for luxury apartments in Limassol.