In September, material prices rose to 8.9% and labour costs rose 4.6%. This is according to data released by the INE.
Material prices and labour costs are making construction more expensive
Material prices and labour costs are making construction more expensive Expect Best at Pexels

New housing construction costs rose 7.1% in September, year-on-year. This represents an increase of 0.4 percentage points over the previous month, according to data released by the National Statistics Institute (INE).

"The price of materials and the cost of labour were up 8.9 percent and 4.6 percent respectively year-on-year," the INE report said.

In September, the estimated year-on-year change in the Construction Costs Index for New Homes (HNCI) was 7.1%, up 0.4 p.p. on August. In the month under review, the increase in the prices of materials accelerated to 8.9% (8.7% in the previous month) and the cost of labour rose by 4.6% (4.0% in August).

INE also reports that labour costs contributed 2.0 percentage points to the year-on-year change in the HICPN, while materials accounted for 5.1 percentage points.

The HNCI is a derived statistic produced by the INE to measure the cost of construction of residential buildings in Portugal.