Construction costs on new housing up 4% in December

Construction costs for new housing registered a year-on-year increase of 4% in December and a rise of 0.9 percentage points (p.p.) compared to the previous month, according to data from the New Housing Construction Cost Index (ICCHN), released by the National Institute of Statistics (INE) this Monday.

The cost of materials showed a variation of 0.8% (1.2% in the previous month) and labour costs increased by 7.7% (1.5% lower than in November).

In turn, labour costs contributed 3.6% (4.3% in the previous month) to the year-on-year variation rate of the ICCHN (Index of New Housing Construction Costs), and materials registered a contribution of 0.4% (0.6% in November).

Among the materials that most positively influenced the aggregate price variation are glass and mirrors, with an increase of approximately 25%, and sanitary ware, with an increase of approximately 15% compared to the same period last year.

Conversely, bitumen stood out with a decrease of approximately 20%, and coating, insulation and waterproofing materials with a decrease of approximately 10%.

The monthly variation rate of the ICCHN was -0.7% in December 2025, 1.3 percentage points lower than that recorded in the previous month, with the cost of materials decreasing by 0.4%, while labor decreased by 1.0%.

Source: ICCHN/Statistics Portugal