[ manilastandardtoday.com ]
Building permits issued by the government rose 7.6 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2011, as more households and companies asked for consent to construct houses and commercial projects during the period.
The National Statistics Office said the government approved 24,610 building permits in the fourth quarter, up from 22,879 permits issued during the same period in 2010.
Permits for residential construction increased by 4.5 percent to 17,451 projects from 16,697 while the number of industrial and commercial construction projects grew 9.7 percent to 3,407 from 3,106.
The government also issued 3,752 permits for expansion or repair in the quarter, higher by 22 percent than 3,076 applications received a year ago.
The NSO said the Calabarzon region received the highest number of applications at 5,489, followed by Central Visayas with 3,015; Metro Manila with 2,718; and Central Luzon with 2,241.
It said that while the number of permits approved in the fourth quarter was higher than a year ago, the total cost of private sector building construction was lower by 8.5 percent during the period.
The NSO said the value of private building construction fell to P43.8 billion in the quarter from P47.8 billion a year earlier.
Residential construction declined 7.1 percent by value to P24.3 billion from P26.2 billion while non-residential construction dropped 14.1 percent to P15.7 billion from P18.2 billion.
(Published in the Manila Standard Today newspaper on /2012/March/31)
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