Saturday, August 09, 2008 [ manilatimes.net ]
THE number of approved building permits in the first quarter of the year fell in the first quarter of the year owing to higher construction materials, the National Statistics Office said Friday.
The NSO said approved building permits dropped 3 percent to 22,787 in January to March from 23,499 in the same period last year.
Permits for non-residential building construction went down by 17.3 percent to 2,931 from 3,543 recorded during the same quarter of 2007.
On the other hand, approved building permits for residential building construction went up slightly by 1.6 percent to 16,159 from 15,899 permits.
The NSO said combined approved building permits for additions, alterations and repairs also dropped 8.9 percent to 3,697 from 4,057 approved building permits.
Total value of construction during the first quarter this year was estimated at P30.1 billion, a 36.9-percent decline from P47.7 billion recorded during the same period of 2008.
Residential building construction valued at P14.4 billion, was slightly lower by 1.3 percent from P14.6 billion recorded during the same period of 2007.
Value of non-residential building construction also fell by 54.5 percent to P13.3 billion from P29.3 billion recorded during the same quarter of the previous year.
The NSO said the average cost per square meter was P7,702 for non-residential building construction and residential building construction, P6,904. -- Darwin G. Amojelar
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