SANTO DOMINGO- The headache for builders, construction materials, which in the last two years had not stopped their upward climb, have begun to ease, which revives the hope of the sector that last year placed itself as the second in greatest growth of the economy.
The price of steel bundles, which represent between 9 and 15% of the cost of housing, fell by 10,000 pesos in the last week, which represents a great relief for the construction sector that has been affected by a chain of factors that have overshadowed its growth in the last year.
The president of the Association of Housing Builders and Developers (Acoprovi) hopes that the fever will spread to other products, given the impact that steel represents for the industry.
"Imported materials need to start coming down because freight costs have started to decrease; this has to start translating into a reduction because it could be a breath of fresh air at a time when interest rates might not start to fall until they see that inflation has really begun to be controlled," Jorge Montalvo told El Inmobiliarioin a recent interview.
Other products that have also begun to experience price reductions include electrical wire, which dropped by 15%; iron angles, 33%; steel nails, 10%; iron profiles, 30%; welding, 15%; mesh tubing, 20%; PVC pipes, 10%; zinc, 10%; beams, 10%; and expanded metal, 15%.
“We are facing a de-escalation of inflation in the construction sector, which is good because it can revive that sector, with the consequent positive impact it has on the economy as a whole,” explained Carlos Iglesias, president of the Santiago Chamber of Commerce and Production and main executive of Bellón hardware store, one of the main ones in the country.
Other measures
Montalvosaid that Acoprovi has also approached representatives of the cement industry and that the organization "maintains hope that in the coming months, with a relatively steady decline in inflation, it will be possible to start thinking about a legal reserve requirement."
He praised the synergy between government representatives and Acoprovi and said he hoped that the State could raise "the ceiling for low-cost housing, whose increase has been swallowed up by inflation.".
Measures that would help boost the sector, in addition to lower construction material prices, include interest rates, capping low-cost housing, and further strengthening the permitting process.
He added to this the zero bureaucracy initiative and the one-stop construction window, the latter scheduled to begin this September, according to his data.
“We believe it will be revolutionary, because right now we are in a privileged position at a regional level and we cannot let it slip away. Construction has always been in the Top Three of growth, so you can't let it fall. We have to do what needs to be done to ensure that what has been achieved is maintained.”.
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