Construction market expected to drop by 15 percent, UNPR says

The drop in the construction market is likely to trigger an increase in the unemployment rate, believes Petre Milut, head of UNPR, as over 500,000 Romanian workers are also expected to return home from countries such as Spain and Italy. The UNPR expects the volume of real estate deals to drop by 30 percent next year.
The union has analyzed the price of construction materials, which has increased by as much as 75 percent, in the case of steel. The price of cement has increased by 20 percent this year on last year, and by 45 percent compared to the 2006 price. Aluminum has also seen a 16 percent price hike in the last two years.
The rise in the price of raw materials and the increase in salaries in the construction field to almost double were among the main factors in the price growth. The stagnation of the real estate market will likely trigger a further increase in the price of construction materials in 2009, due to production companies which will try to make up for the lack of demand on the market, according to Milut.
Corina Saceanu