As a result of the boom in (mostly) residential construction, the prices for building materials have been rising quite steadily for the last 4 years. Compared to 2003, some of the materials have doubled in value – e.g. bricks have gone from 8 euro cents to 18.
So far this spring, the prices have stayed the same. An average project could take 18+ months to get from the drawing board to completion. An increase in the price of building materials frequently meant that the budget had to be adjusted quite dramatically (15-20%). The increased competition in the sector spells good news for investors who would like to better control their costs.