Even Steeper Construction Material Price Hikes

"Construction material prices have already increased by 15-25%, much more intensively than originally expected, due to the impact of the war, and construction is becoming even more expensive as manufacturers continue to announce increasingly drastic price hikes," the business daily Világgazdaság writes.

Raimund Wiesinger, president of the Hungarian Building Materials Trade Association (ÉKE), told the paper that "based on the manufacturers' intentions as seen in January, they predicted a price increase of 10-15% on average for the building materials market for 2022. However, the price level is already 15-25% higher in mid-March than last year."

He added that while state subsidies are still in place this year to help with residential renovations, the sharp rise in the price of building materials and the fact that labor costs have doubled and sometimes tripled in recent times has almost erased their impact.

The average cost of materials for construction has risen by 20% since January, and in some categories, it can be as high as 30%, according to the article. And while a number of manufacturers are withdrawing their previous quotes and switching to short-term pricing, demand is still not falling, as everyone wants to buy in at current prices for planned construction projects, fearing even steeper price rises.