The number and value of construction projects with approved building permits declined in March, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
Approved construction projects totaled 13,320 during the said month, which indicates a 15.5-percent dip from 15,764 projects in the same month last year. In a monthly comparison, it was also lower by 1.7 percent from the 13,551 building permits recorded in February 2024.
The amount of approved projects, meanwhile, totaled P34.07 billion, indicating a 24.3-percent decline from last year's P45 billion and from the previous month's P44.99 billion.
Among the total projects, residential buildings comprised most of the approved constructions at 8,964 or 67.3 percent of the total projects.
"It recorded an annual decrease of 18.1 percent from the same month of the previous year's level of 10,949 constructions," the PSA said.
Majority of the total residential construction work was on single-type houses, with 7,743 valued at P11.18 billion.
Non-residential type of construction, meanwhile, totaled 3,105 during the month and recorded the highest value at P16.37 billion.
The latest number of non-residential constructions during the month fell by 6.1 percent in comparison to last year's 3,307.
In terms of types of structures, the PSA said that residential buildings had the highest average cost of P11,812.95 per square meter (sqm) in March.
This was followed by non-residential constructions with P10,602.23 per sqm, and an addition to existing constructions with P10,364.91 per sqm.
On the other hand, the floor area of approved construction projects declined by 14 percent and was recorded at 2.8 million sqm in comparison to last year's 3.3 million sqm.
Floor area of non-residential constructions reached 1.53 million sqm during the said month, or 54.0 percent of the total area of constructions, while residential constructions recorded 1.27 million sqm, or 44.9 percent of the total floor area of constructions in March 2024.
The PSA said that the Calabarzon Region recorded the highest construction projects and value during the month, with 3,245 approved building permits amounting to P9.04 billion.
Source: Philippine Statistics Authority
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