Approved building permits in the third quarter declined 18 percent year-on-year to 37,845, with residential buildings still accounting for the bulk of the issued permits, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed.
Construction is a major driver of the economy and a job creator.
Construction permits for residential projects fell 25 percent to a total 25,411. Around 86 percent of these permits are for single-type houses.
Non-residential construction permits, mostly for commercial buildings, total 8,273 in the third quarter, a 3.1 percent increase compared to the same period last year.
Addition, which according to the PSA refers to any new construction that increases the height or area of an existing building, and alteration and repair of existing structures contributed 3.7 percent and 7.3 percent to the total number of constructions. Construction permits for addition was up 5.3 percent while that for alteration and repair was down 10 percent.CALABARZON, which refers to the provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon, continued to register the highest number issued construction permits at 10,595 during the third quarter, or 28 percent of total permits. Central Visayas accounted for 4,894 construction permits or about 13 percent of total while Central Luzon had 4,288 construction permits, or 11 percent.
