Sanitaryware price hikes led to a 3.5% increase in the standard home construction price index in the first quarter of 2023 amid higher fuel costs, according to the Real Estate Information Center (REIC).
Vichai Viratkapan, the centre's acting director-general, said among all home construction materials, sanitaryware had the largest price adjustment in the first quarter, up 13.2% year-on-year.
This was followed by wood and wooden products, which soared 13%, while tile prices increased 10.2%.
These three materials experienced price increases above 10%, while the remainder all rose by less than 10%.
Pringprai Nitayanont, deputy chief executive of Karat Enterprise (Thailand), a manufacturer and distributor of faucets and bathroom accessories, said the company increased its product prices by 7-8% since January after maintaining prices during the pandemic.
"We didn't increase prices despite rising oil prices in early 2022 because the market conditions were unfavourable," she said.
"Now that the market has recovered, we have increased prices to align with our costs."
Mr Vichai said the higher prices for construction materials was likely because of high prices for fuel, which had a significant impact on both production and transport costs.
"This led to rising costs being passed on to the prices of residential construction," he said.
According to REIC, the standard home construction price index in the first quarter of 2023 was 134.4, up 3.5% from the same period last year and 1.9% from the fourth quarter of 2022.
This index is calculated from construction costs based on a two-storey house with a usable area of 169 square metres, assuming a construction period of around 180 days, including operational costs and value-added tax, but excluding land prices and land development costs.
By category, architectural jobs, which accounted for 65.6% of design, construction work and system work, had a year-on-year increase of 8.8% in terms of fees, rising 3% quarter-on-quarter.
Structural engineering jobs, which represented 28% of design, construction and system work, had a year-on-year increase of 6% in terms of fees, but a drop of 0.1% quarter-on-quarter.
Steel and steel products, which accounted for 5.8% of the construction materials category, gained in price 7.1% for the period year-on-year, but dropped 0.4% quarter-on-quarter.
Concrete products, which accounted for 4.3% of construction materials, increased 2.5% year-on-year and remained unchanged from the fourth quarter of 2022.
"The market should monitor changes in the prices of steel and concrete products in the second quarter of 2023 as they are significant factors in the standard home construction price index," said Mr Vichai.