Experts say increase in steel, cement rates may have long-term effects

HYDERABAD: With prices of construction materials such as steel and cement rising in Hyderabad, industry experts say this could have long-lasting effects on property prices in the city.

Chalapathi Rao, president, Telangana Real Estate Developers Association, said that due to high prices of construction materials, the rates of properties would increase by as much as 15 to 20 per cent.

“Even in the long term, construction costs would remain 10 per cent higher as steel and cement manufacturers might not reduce prices heavily,” he said. According to Anarock Property Consultants, who have taken up several projects in the city, steel prices have gone through the roof while labour costs have also risen due to the shortage of constructi on workers .

“Rising cost of raw materials such as steel has an adverse impact on the overall real estate sector because it spikes up the overall construction cost. The increase in these basic raw material costs is too much to bear and in fact, property prices are now bound to go up because of this factor alone,” said Anuj Puri, Chairman of Anarock Property Consultants.