- Detailed inflation data show concrete floor finishes have been increasing in price far faster than tiled floors for a long time.
- Which is weird – because the cost of tiles have been increasing faster than concrete.
- That suggests that concrete floor suppliers are taking advantage of consumers willing to pay higher prices, says South African Market Insights.
Graphing the relative price increases for concrete screed flooring and tile finishes as tracked by Statistics SA shows a strange pattern, the platform South African Market insights said this week.
Other than a brief period in 2014, concrete floors have been rising in price much faster that tile floors, the closest equivalent available for new homes or renovations.
At times, the difference in inflation between the two types of flooring is stark – such as in early 2018.
The difference in price increase would make sense if cement prices were rising more sharply than those of tiles – but the same StatsSA data shows that is not the case. In recent months concrete saw a relative spike, but tiles have been growing more expensive much faster than cement.
"We believe suppliers of screed/concrete flooring have taken advantage of the popularity of such floors/finishes in recent years and have passed significant price increases on to consumers who are willing to pay to have the screed-finish look," says SAMI.
Concrete floors start to break even compared to tiles when the tiles come at a cost of R120 per square metre, says one supplier.
The functional and aesthetic difference between the two types of flooring is shrinking, with "concrete look" and "screed look" tiles now common.
Concrete floors have grown increasingly popular over time for the wide variety of finishes available.
Receive a single WhatsApp message every morning with all our latest news: Sign up here.
- Why our bad growth number is good news
- Here’s what you can do when an infected colleague insists on coming to the office this flu season
- Our new business fashion feature. This week, we visit Cell C to find out what they wear
- A South African skincare company is about to morph into an engineering company after a weird couple of months
- The Reserve Bank says its Project Khokha was a success – but SA is not yet ready for a bitcoin-style payment system yet