The price index of standard home construction in the second quarter of 2024 rose 3.8%, with the biggest increases seen in the prices of wood and wooden products, as well as labour wages.
Vichai Viratkapan, acting director-general of the Real Estate Information Center (REIC), said while home construction prices continued to rise, the increase in the second quarter was not significant.
“The highest year-on-year increase in prices was for wood and wooden products like formwork wood, framework wood, and flooring and doors with a rise of 6.8%,” he said. “Their prices were driven by operational and transportation costs.”
Wood and wooden products were also limited in supply, while demand was driven by ongoing public sector construction projects and private sector projects, particularly industrial factories.
The second highest year-on-year increase in prices was for wages, which rose by 5.5%, due to the increase in the minimum wage that came into effect on Jan 7.
According to the REIC, the price index of standard home construction in the second quarter of 2024 was 139.1, up 1.2% from the first quarter of 2024 and 3.8% from the second quarter last year.
The labour wage category accounted for 40.2% of the index, while the construction materials category accounted for 59.8%.
While the price of wood and wooden products, accounting for 29.4% in the construction materials category, rose 6.8% year-on-year, that of steel and steel products, representing 8.6% in the same category, dropped 4.7%.
The prices of concrete products, which accounted for 6.7%, fell 2.5%. The prices of sanitary ware, which represented 3.2%, dropped 0.2%, while the prices of tiles, which represented 5.5%, edged up by 1%.
For electric and water supply equipment, which accounted for 6%, the price rose 0.6% while the price of other construction materials, which accounted for 41.4%, increased 3.3%.
“The rise in construction prices was mainly due to the increase in the prices of key raw materials such as crude oil and transportation costs,” Mr Vichai said.