THE NUMBER of building permits authorised in August 2016 stood at 381 compared with the 312 authorised in August 2015; an increase of 22.1 per cent according to official figures released by the Cyprus Statistical Service.
Compared with August 2015, the total value of these permits rose 38.8% to €61.1 million, while their total area rose 66.7% to 69.1 thousand square metres.
During August, building permits were issued for:
- Residential buildings – 209 permits
- Community buildings – 2 permits
- Non-residential buildings – 69 permits
- Civil engineering projects – 12 permits
- Division of plots of land – 26 permits
- Road construction – 6 permits
Building permits for new homes
The 209 residential building permits approved in August provided for the construction of 229 new homes comprising 149 single houses and 80 multiple housing units (such as apartments, semis, townhouses and other residential complexes).
This is an increase of 15.1% compared with August 2015 when building permits were issued for the construction of 199 new homes.
Building Permits Issued for the Construction of
New Homes (Number of Dwellings)
| Month | 2015 (Dwellings) |
2016 (Dwellings) |
Increase/ Decrease |
%age Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 204 | 243 | 39 | 19.1% |
| February | 384 | 312 | -72 | 3.0% |
| March | 297 | 306 | 9 | 3.0% |
| April | 147 | 201 | 54 | 36.7% |
| May | 276 | 278 | 2 | 0.7% |
| June | 239 | 287 | 48 | 20.1% |
| July | 337 | 382 | 45 | 13.4% |
| August | 199 | 229 | 30 | 15.1% |
| Total | 2,083 | 2,238 | 155 | 7.4% |
Year to date
During the first eight months of 2016 the number of building permits authorised for both residential and non-residential projects has increased by 4.5% to 3,434 compared with the 3,286 authorised in the same period last year.
Although total area of these permits has risen by 4.5% to 615.3 thousand square metres, their total value has fallen 7.3% to €635.9 million. The number of housing units has increased by 7.4%.
According to the Cyprus Statistical Service, building permits constitute a leading indicator of future activity in the construction sector.
Owners are still holding on to the price they’ve bought their properties during the bubble…result: today (with developers being more reasonable) brand new houses are almost the same price as resale houses…so people tend to build rather than to buy second hand…unfortunately, this doesn’t contribute to the reduction of the huge real estate oversupply…