Construction activity slows down in Q3 — PSA

MANILA, Philippines — Construction activity slowed down in the third quarter of 2019 as fewer residential buildings were built, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said.

Preliminary results of the latest Construction Statistics from Approved Building Permits showed that the total number of construction projects reached 40,795 in the third quarter, down 3.1 percent year on year.

Residential buildings still made up the bulk of construction activities during the quarter, numbering 28,975 projects.

Compared with the third quarter of 2018, however, the number of residential construction projects fell by 5.4 percent from 30,638.

Most of the residential buildings built in the third quarter were single-type homes, making up 83.3 percent of the total residential construction.

Construction of residential condominiums made up 0.1 percent of the total. 

More non-residential buildings, meanwhile, were built, growing by 10.1 percent to 6,586 projects.

Most of the non-residential buildings built were commercial buildings.

The number of constructions for addition to existing structures reached 1,537, up 6.2 percent.

On the other hand, the combined number of constructions for alteration and repair of existing structures declined by 8.6 percent to 3,697.

Most of these projects were located in the following regions: Calabarzon, Central Luzon, Central Visayas, NCR, and Ilocos Region. 

At the provincial level, Cavite, Batangas, Bulacan, Cebu, and Bohol saw the most construction activity.

It also became more expensive to build in the third quarter compared with the same period a year ago. 

Residential building constructions had an average cost of P10,130 per square meter and an average floor area of 167.6 sqm per building. 

The average cost per sqm reflects an increase of 9.5 percent from the average cost recorded in the same quarter of 2018.

Non-residential building constructions, meanwhile, had an average cost of P11,956 per square meter and an average floor area of 731.1 square meters per building.

The average cost was 9.2 percent higher than the P10,952 per sqm average cost in 2018.

Construction statistics are generated from approved building permits as well as from the demolition and fencing permits collected every month by PSA field personnel from the offices of local building officials (LBOs).