The number of building permits issued in Feburary declined from the year-earlier period but the size of the real estate developments and their total value surged, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed, suggesting strong growth for the construction and property sectors in the months ahead.
PSA data show the number of issued building permits in February was down 5.5 percent on year to 13,100. The figure, however, was up from the 12,400 permits issued in January.
The combined size of the planned developments in February total 3.61 million square meters, up 35 percent from the 2.69 million square meters in the same month last year. The total size of developments allowed in January stood at 2.5 million square meters.
The value of developments in February was a combined P43.27 billion, up 40 percent from last year and also higher than the P32.58 billion registered in January.
Permits for residential developments was down 9.4 percent in February to 8,345 while that for non-residential and other real estate developments was up 3.8 percent to 3,721.
The total size of residential development was higher by 3.7 percent to 1.44 million square meters while the value increased 21 percent to P19.34 billion. Non-residential and other developments’ size increased 67 percent to 2.18 million square meters with total value up 58 percent to P3.02 billion.
