07.09.2022
Official data shows that construction activity has declined slightly due to rising costs in the first six months of 2022 compared to the same period last year.
Activity in the construction sector eased slightly in the first half of the year, with building permits issued falling 2.3% to 3,898 from 3,990 in 2021 as rising building material prices hit the industry. The damage done to the industry is much greater than the number of permits indicated, as the total cost of these permits decreased by 9.1% and the total area decreased by 12.4%.
The value of permits issued in the first half of 2022 reached 1.2 billion euros, compared to 1.34 billion euros in the same period last year.
The area of building permits issued from January to June reached 1.078 million square meters, up from 1.23 million square meters in the first six months of 2021.
The number of building permits issued by local authorities in June was 626. And the total value of these permits reached 220.1 million euros on a total area of 202,100 square meters. These building permits provide for the construction of 1,146 housing units.
Building permits are a leading indicator of future activity in the construction sector.
The decline breaks the momentum as the number of building permits and their cost increased.
The Cyprus real estate sector has lost ground in 2021 due to the pandemic as the number of building permits has accelerated but is still well below the levels recorded in 2019 before the coronavirus.
According to Cystat data, 8,164 building permits were issued last year, up from 7,023 in 2020, representing a 16.2% increase.
The number of housing units increased by 13.1%. In 2021, single apartments increased in price by 14.4%, and residential apartments by 17.9%.
The area of licensed facilities in 2021 increased by 3.8% to 2346.2 million square meters from 2260.7 million square meters in 2020.
Compared to 2019, when the area of licensed facilities reached 2,585.8 million sq. m, last year the decline was 9.3%.
