Average house-building costs up 4%

Jo-Maré Duddy – The cost of building a standard three-bedroom house on a 375 square metres erf rose by 4.3% from March 2017 to March 2018, with the cost of land recording the highest increase.According to the latest First Capital House Building Cost Report, released on Wednesday, the average price tag for such a house in Windhoek and Swakopmund was N$449 926. In the rest of the country, the average cost was N$376 298.The breakdown for Windhoek and Swakopmund is: Land (N$95 000), labour (N$100 926), building materials (N$240 300) and indirect costs (N$13 700). In the rest of Namibia, the average picture looks like this: Land (N$23 000), labour (N$97 028), building materials (N$242 570) and indirect costs (N$13 700).For Namibia as a whole, the various components of buildings cost recorded average annual increases as follow: Land (4.8%), labour (4.4%) and building materials (4.1%).CementFirst Capital (FC) says most of the cement consumed in Namibia is manufactured locally, and its price is subject to mainly domestic factors that have an impact on cement production. “The domestic slowdown in the economy that started in 2016 have impacted negatively on the construction sector which is a key demand sector for cement. “In line with the trend of slowing construction activities in the country, domestic cement output has also been slowing over two years since 2016. At the back of slowing demand, prices of cement were barely stable in 2017, which in our view was also supported by weak demand,” FC says. According to FC, the continued consolidation of the country’s fiscal position and the prolonged slowdown in the economy remains major downside factors to the construction sector which continues to weaken demand for cement. “With the new entrant of a cement producing company in the market that is set to begin supplying the market with the prolonged weak demand in consumption of cement, we hold a view that prices will remain flat throughout 2018,” FC says.Bricks, sandFC says the price of super bricks increased by 4% in March 2018 compared to March 2017.“The price of bricks is influenced by the price of cement and transport cost of transporting sand from the extraction site to the site of producing bricks. The price increase of 4% in bricks is in line with price increase of sand and transport costs. “In 2018, we do not expect major price shock to the price of bricks, as slow demand should be limiting factor for the motive by producers to increase prices. Competition among brick suppliers will also be key in keeping prices stable as of recent in the market of supplying bricks has picked up,” FC says.Annual figures show an increase of 4.8% in March 2018 compared to the price of sand in March 2017, FC continues. “Unlike for bricks, suppliers of sand remain few and this have always supported increases in the price of sand. The recent move towards regulating sand mining given the environmental impact it poses in areas where sand is mined could be another factor which we believe will further limit reduce suppliers in the market. This however, could mean a marginal increase in the price of sand,” FC says.Electrical goodsAccording to the report, the prices of electrical goods surged went up by 4.8% on an annual basis in March 2018.“The input commodities of the manufacturing of these electrical goods is base metals like copper, aluminium and steel. Given that Namibia imports most of electrical materials goods, the local exchange rate and prices of base metals which are production inputs will be key to the outlook of electrical building materials,” FC says. “In line with the World Bank and International Monetray Fund’s outlook of slow recovery in the prices of base metals, we expect domestic prices of electrical goods will remain stable throughout 2018, supported by the continued exchange rate resilience of the local currency against the US dollar.”Kassie 1Average price of land from local authorityWindhoek N$110 000Swakopmund N$75 000Ondangwa N$24 100Katima Mulilo N$23 500Rundu N$23 000Keetmanshoop N$18 200Kassie 2Building materials: Cost by townWindhoek N$241 000Swakopmund N$241 100Keetmanshoop N$241 400Ondangwa N$242 000Rundu N$242 100Katima Mulilo N$242 200

Average house-building costs up 4%

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Namibian Sun 2026-09-28

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Average house-building costs up 4%

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Namibian Sun 2026-09-28

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