Summary
In March 2005 the new housing construction cost index on the mainland had a change of 2.0% from the same month in 2004, which represents a 1.3 percentage points (p.p.) deceleration, when compared with growth in February. This development of the index was the result of a new deceleration of 3.2 p.p. of the material component, with the corresponding year-on-year change standing at 0.2%. The year-on-year rate of change in the labour component in new housing construction costs accelerated from 3.3% to 3.7%. The year-on-year change in the housing regular repair and maintenance price index on the mainland was 3.6%, 0.1 p.p. higher than in the previous month. The services component had a year-on-year rate of change of 3.8%, declining by 0.2 p.p., while products for housing regular maintenance and repair accelerated by 0.5 p.p. from the previous period, to stand at 3.2%.