The ICDV considers the direct costs of four types of housing
SANTO DOMINGO. – The Direct Housing Construction Cost Index (ICDV) registered a monthly variation of 0.13% in July 2026, according to the monthly bulletin of the National Statistics Office (ONE), which measures the behavior of costs associated with housing construction in the Metropolitan Region.
The indicator reached an average of 240.62 points in July, representing an increase of 0.31 points compared to the 240.31 recorded in June of this year. With this result, the index accumulated a variation of 1.88% between December 2025 and July 2026, while in year-on-year terms it showed an increase of 2.08% when compared to July 2025.
The ICDV considers the direct costs of four types of housing: single-family homes with one level, single-family homes with two levels, multi-family homes with four levels, and multi-family homes with eight or more levels, in the National District and the province of Santo Domingo. The indicator excludes indirect costs such as land, design, building permits, financing, and profits for construction companies.
Single-family homes register smaller increases
By type, single-family homes with one level registered a monthly variation of 0.07%, while those with two levels increased by 0.10%.
Meanwhile, four-story multi-family dwellings showed an increase of 0.18%, and those of eight or more stories registered a variation of 0.17%, these being the typologies with the greatest increases during July.
In terms of the index level, the single-family home with one level reached 248.04 points; the single-family home with two levels, 242.46; the multi-family home with four levels, 236.21; and the multi-family home with eight or more levels, 235.77 points.
Materials are the main drivers of upward pressure
As indicated in the ONE document, among the cost groups, materials experienced the largest monthly increase, with a variation of 0.47%, followed by tools, which increased by 0.22%.
According to the statistics, subcontracts registered a variation of 0.13%, while labor showed no changes, with a variation of 0.00%.
In contrast, the machinery group registered a decrease of 0.21%, becoming the component with the largest reduction during the period.
Electric wires and hollow core slabs show the greatest increases
In that sense, when analyzing the behavior by cost subgroups, the largest increases were recorded in electrical wires, with a variation of 7.51%, and vaults, with 4.47%.
In that same order, these two components showed significantly higher increases than the rest of the subgroups during July, putting pressure on the overall behavior of direct construction costs.
Conversely, the largest decreases were in fuels, with a variation of -1.94%, and in floors and ceramics, which registered a reduction of -0.77%.
The ICDV is prepared by the National Statistics Office (ONE) using a methodology based on the Laspeyres Index, with a basket of fixed weights and a base period corresponding to October 2009.
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