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Ministry of Development: Housing Permits Up By 27% YoY

30 September 2015 – El Economista

According to the latest information from the Ministry of Development, the number of permits granted by the college of technical architects for the construction of homes shot up by 27.5% during the first seven months of the year to 28,870, the best figure recorded during that period since 2011.

Housing permits started the year (2015) with an increase of 37% to 3,466 in January. In February, the YoY growth rate shot up to 57%, before decreasing in March by 13.5%. In April, the number of permits increased again by 50%, then by 22% in May, 48% in June and 12% in July.

This growth in the number of permits comes after a slight increase (0.003%) was recorded during 2014 to 34,873, the first rise in the construction sector indicator after seven years of decreases.

Despite the increase recorded during the 7 months to July, the total number of housing permits still falls well below the maximums registered in 2006, during the height of the boom in the real estate sector, when 496,071 permits were issued during the first seven months of the year, 94% more than this year.

New builds, renovations and extensions

The total number of permits granted for new builds, renovations and extensions during the seven months to July was 45,345, which represents an increase of 20.3% with respect to 2014.

By type of property, permits to construct blocks of housing increased by 31% (to 20,184 licences), whilst the number of permits for detached homes rose by 19% to 8,671.

In terms of surface area, the average size of detached homes was 202 m2, whilst the average size of flats was 112 m2.

The number of housing permits began to decrease in 2007, when it fell by 24.8%, since when the downwards trend continued to record its lowest ever annual figure last year.

Since the Ministry of Development began compiling these statistics in 1991, the number of permits reached its historical minimum in August last year, when just 1,585 permits were granted. The historical maximum was recorded in September 2006, with 126,753 permits granted.

Original story: El Economista

Translation: Carmel Drake