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Area of building permits up 23%

02/04/2015 13:30
The area of building permits recorded an increase in January 2015.

According to Cystat data released today, the area of building permits issued in the first month of the year amounted to 80.4 thousand sq. meters from 65.6 thousand sq. meters in January 2014 recording an increase of 22.6%.

The first month is not usually indicative of the performance of the sector.

Building permits constitute a leading indicator of future activity in the construction sector.

The largest increase of 345.4% was registered in the area of projects in Famagusta reaching 10.2 thousand sq. meters from 2.3 thousand sq. meters last year.

In Limassol the area of licensed projects amounted to 21.3 thousand sq. meters from 10.6 thousand sq. meters, surging 100.5%.

An increase of 27.8% was recorded in the area of projects in Nicosia.

On the other hand, a fall of 38.5% was observed in Larnaca with the area dropping to 9.2 thousand sq. meters from 15 thousand square meters last year.

In Paphos there was a decrease of 31.4% to 9.8 thousand sq. meters against 14.3 thousand sq. meters.

The number of dwelling units recorded an increase as well.

With the building permits, 204 dwelling units are expected to be built compared to 175 last year.

More than that, building permits rose to 404 from 396.

The value of licensed projects decreased to €75.5 mn from €78.6 mn.

In 2014 the area of building permits fell to a record low. It declined by 25% to 784.9 mn sq. meters from 1044.8 mn in 2013.