THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state government’s LIFE Mission, which provides free housing to the homeless, stimulated construction activity in the housing sector, a report from the economics and statistics department has said. The post-Covid boom in the sector led to a price rise of materials, the ‘Annual average market price of building materials and labour wages 2022-23’ report showed.
Kerala, like elsewhere, witnessed a construction-sector slump during the pandemic. The number of newly constructed buildings in 2021-22 was 17.07% less than the previous year.
In 2022-23, materials which recorded significant price rise included country burnt brick, painting materials, glass items, and roofing tiles. The price of country bricks increased by 8.06% from the previous year. Price of laterite stone increased by 3.26%. However, the price of hollow blocks decreased by 2.07% compared with FY 2021-22. Prices of solid blocks (concrete) increased by 4.18% and wire cut bricks by 2.85%.
The price of ordinary grey cement decreased by 2.59%. The price of roofing tiles increased by 14.17%. Prices for all materials in the paint and varnish category increased in the 3-16% range. The average increase in price of glass items was 14.41%.
Among timber species, teak recorded the highest price due to its exceptional quality and global demand, the report said. The price of Burma iron wood (irool) decreased by 7.79%. Pincoda and teakwood had the lowest increase -- 0.38% and 0.96% respectively.
The average increase for wild jack (anjili), jackwood and Indian kino tree (vengai) was 3.19%. Most steel items saw price increases ranging from 3-7%, except for mild steel (MS), which increased by about 13.5%, and MS galvanised steel, which decreased by nearly 3.5%. The price rise was attributed to the Russia-Ukraine war which led to a surge in export demand for steel from India.