I am often told that construction costs here are not much different than the US for a middle of the line home which is true even though the average wage may be around $3 per hour.  Here is one reason why.  Before I get into that, the caveat is that you can build a luxury villa for about 305 of the cost in the US because we can get porcelain floor tile, Spanish barrel roof tile, granite, marble and decent quality solid wood cabinetry for a fraction of the cost in the US.

It appears that it is a real problem in Costa Rica.

While in the US the number of man hours needed to build a house is 9.4 hours per square meter, in Costa Rica it takes between 40 and 60.

Low labor productivity, on top of the cost of building materials, social charges and high costs of other materials such as energy, are preventing firms from being more competitive in an industry where both end house prices for completed works and gray works, exceed those in neighboring countries.

Elfinancierocr.com reports that according to an analysis by the company Bildtek, “… Building a house in Costa Rica in 2005 cost about $400 per square meter, but in 2014 it was around $700. Labor costs went up by 80% in the same period. ”

The price of materials such as cement, “… are added to other factors, such as rising inflation, which also pushes up prices … The cost of labor and the amount of man hours needed are added to the impact costs on the sector. “