MARKET FORECAST ANOTHER TOUGH YEAR

摘要

The decline in tender prices continued in the fourth quarter but decelerated, falling 1 on the third quarter. This leaves prices 17 below their peak 18 months ago.The building cost index rose 1 in the fourth quarter as materials prices resumed an upward trend. The index still shows a fall of 0.3 over the year.The retail prices index has been on an ascending trend since April last year and increased 3.8 between January and December 2009. This will rise further in January 2010 with the reimposition of 17.5 VAT.