The building price increases: For a square meter of up to 200 euros more

With the cost of construction increased, the price of a square meter of residences in Kosovo has increased, says the chairman of the Kosovo Construction Association, Faton Hoxha.

According to his data, construction materials prices have increased over 20 percent in the past month.

Increases have also suffered prices of food, oil, gasoline and other services.

This global situation has blamed the war Russia started in Ukraine on February 24th, and the riots in markets that have followed it.

After the start of the war in Ukraine, we have an increase of 40 percent [of the price] of iron. The [price] of cement is 80 percent higher than last year. These are basic construction products, but the increase has also undergone other building materials”, Hoxha tells Radio Free Europe.

According to him, one square meter of a residence in Fushe Kosovo has reached 650 euros and more, up from 500 last year.

Fushe Kosova, located only sixkm from Pristina, has one of the lowest prices in the market, the Kosovo Builders' Association says.

Sali Murataj resident of Pristina says he is interested in buying residence in the capital.

According to research at the market, he says prices, from last year, have increased for more than 200 euros.

I've had a case when I set a term to see a property... The price was 750 euros, [but] when we arrived we were told it was up to 950 euros”, Murataj says.

Speaking to Radio Free Europe, it shows that in a Pristina neighbourhood it has faced even higher prices.

“On Street B, the price per square meter is 1,000 euros”, he says.

On the websites of several real estate agencies that have visited Radio Free Europe, it finds that housing prices in Kosovo start at 850 euros per square metre or higher.

They depend on where the apartment is located, for example, the closer they get to the city center, the more expensive.

Growth may not stop there

Prices have been on the trend of growth even before the outbreak of war in Ukraine. Coronervirus' pandemic, which began in 2020, has also caused market disorders that have resulted in price hikes.

The owner of the construction company “Elsa”, Brahim Selimaj, says these two events have greatly raised the cost of construction.

According to him, the square meter of residences has been expensive for 200 euros, compared to last year. And, growth may not stop here, he says.

“Prices can increase even more, it is not known what the trend will be, as Kosovo does not have its own products and is dependent on import”, Selimaj tells Radio Free Europe.

Kosovo is importing and almost all construction materials, and any change in prices in the world affects Kosovo as well.

In 2021, Kosovo, according to data from Customs, imported construction materials worth over 460m euros. Construction materials are imported mainly from neighbors: Albania, Northern Macedonia and Serbia, but also from other countries.

According to Kosovo Statistics Agency data, the cost of construction in Kosovo has marked a 16 - percent increase in the fourth quarter of 2021, compared to the same period in 2020.

Only construction materials, according to the AKS, have been expensive for over 20 percent.