Q2 construction activity picks up

MANILA, Philippines - The country’s construction activity rose in the second quarter with the number of approved building permits up by 11.2 percent year-on-year, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said.

Preliminary results of the PSA’s Construction Statistics from Approved Building Permits for the second quarter released yesterday showed that a total of 32,729 building permits were approved for the April to June period this year, higher than the 29,424 approved in the same period in 2013.

The new construction projects for the period, which were valued at P69.9 billion grew, 5.3 percent from P66.4 billion in the same period in the previous year.

Residential type-building projects, which accounted for the bulk of approved building permits for the three-month period, rose 11.5 percent to 23,817 from 21,360 in the comparable period last year.

The PSA attributed the increase to the construction of single and duplex/quadruplex-type houses.

Single-type houses went up 14.2 percent, while duplex/quadruplex-type houses posted a 5.6-percent uptick.

The value of residential projects posted a 5.8-percent increase to P34.5 billion in the April to June period this year from P32.6 billion during the same quarter of 2013.

Approved building permits for non-residential constructions grew slightly by 1.8 percent to 3,567 in the second quarter from 3,504 in the same quarter a year ago.

In terms of value, non-residential constructions, which amounted to P27.5 billion for the April to June period, declined 3.5 percent from the previous year’s P28.5 billion.

Permits for additions, alterations and repairs of existing structures, which reached 5,345 in the second quarter, are 17.2 percent higher than the 4,560 in the same three-month period in 2013.

The combined value of additions, alterations and repairs of existing structures estimated at P7.9 billion in the second quarter, posted a 49.9-percent increase from P5.3 billion last year.

“Region 4A (CALABARZON) led the regions with 7,892 construction projects accounting for about one-fourth (24.1 percent) of the total,” the PSA said.

At the provincial level, Cavite had the highest number of construction projects at 3,294 or 10.3 percent of the total approved building permits in the second quarter.

In terms of value, the National Capital Region held the top spot with projects amounting to P27.7 billion or 39.6 percent of the total value of construction for the period.