Construction works slower in Q4 – PSA

MANILA, Philippines -  The pace of construction works slightly slowed in the fourth quarter of 2016 as  growth eased to two percent from 18.4 percent in the third quarter, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said.

Based on the number of building permits approved during the last quarter of 2016, the total number of construction activities reached 32, 282, up from 31,638 during the same quarter in 2015.

In the third quarter of last year, the total number of construction activities reached 35,684, up from 30,126 in the same period in 2015.

Construction of residential buildings rose two percent in the fourth quarter of 2016 to 24,752 from 24,274 in 2015. The increase was driven by condominiums, apartments and other types of residential units. Reductions, on the other hand, were noted in the construction of duplexes, quadruplexes and single type houses.

Non-residential constructions rose 7.1 percent to 3,981 in the fourth quarter of last year from 3,717 recorded units during the same period a year ago. Growth was driven by agricultural, industrial and commercial buildings.

Additions to existing structures, meanwhile, declined 10 percent to 883 in the fourth quarter from 981 units in the comparative period in 2015. Alterations and repairs of existing structures in the last quarter of 2016 had a flat growth.

Most of the construction activities in the fourth quarter – 59.5 percent – were located in CALABARZON, Central Visayas, Central Luzon, National Capital Region and Davao Region.

Along with the rise in the number of construction activities in the fourth quarter, the total value of constructions rose 20.2 percent to P82.4 billion from P68.6 billion in the fourth quarter of 2015.

The average construction cost per square meter for residential buildings in the fourth quarter of 2016 was estimated at P12,131, up 29.9 percent compared with the average cost of P9,337 per square meter in the same quarter the previous year. This was brought about by increments in the average cost per square meter of condominiums, duplexes, apartments and single-type houses.

The average cost per square meter, meanwhile, of non-residential buildings declined 17.7 percent to P9,634 in the fourth quarter of 2016 from P11, 712 in the same quarter in 2015. This was brought about by the double-digit decreases in the per square meter costs of industrial, agricultural and institutional buildings.