Soaring building costs shackle recovery

Cyprus real estate and construction sectors are stressed from skyrocketing prices of building materials, making it harder to recover from the pandemic and scrapping of the ‘golden passports’ scheme.

According to the Cyprus Statistical Services data, increases were recorded across the board in 2021, pushing up the overall construction cost by 10.98%, compared to 2020.

Compared to the pre-coronavirus year 2019, the overall building cost has gone up by 10.51%.

Essential items such as steel, cement, sand, stone aggregates, and wood-based materials have recently seen a significant price increase.

According to CyStat, building materials with the largest increase is construction steel, with prices rising by a whopping 46.56% last year, compared to 2020.

Iron rod prices jumped 33.39%, while copper pipes recorded an increase of 44.34%, and steel pipes increased 32.69%.