The Statistical Service of Cyprus has published the latest data on building permits.
The number of licenses approved in the first ten months of 2021 exceeded the 2020 figures by 17.3% (6671 vs. 5689).
6671 permissions include:
- 4670 - for residential buildings,
- 1049 - for non-residential private buildings,
- 381 - for public buildings,
- 447 - for the division of land plots,
- 124 - for road construction projects.
As for non-residential private buildings, construction permits were issued to 29 hotels, 23 tourist apartments, 105 restaurants, cafes and breweries, 76 office buildings, 83 wholesale and retail buildings and 152 industrial and warehouse buildings.
The total area of real estate to be built under the issued licenses increased by 3.1%, and the number of new housing units - by 10.9%. At the same time, the total cost of these permits decreased by 8.2%, to 2.05 billion euros compared to 2.24 billion euros in the period from January to October 2020.
In October 2021, municipal authorities and district administrations issued a total of 663 construction permits. The total cost of these licenses was 186.0 million euros, and the total area was 173.7 thousand m2. These permits provide for the construction of 801 housing units.
Namely:
- 231 detached houses,
- 81 duplex,
- 462 residential apartment buildings,
- 27 houses of mixed type.
If you look at the cities of Cyprus, the leader in the number of permits issued is Larnaca.
From January to October, 1,066 licenses were issued in the city (+39.8% year-on-year).
Then follows Paphos, where the number of building permits increased by 29.4%, to 1,016 against 785 last year.
In Limassol, the number of building permits increased by 12.3%. From January to October, 1,850 licenses were issued in the city compared to 1,648 in the same period in 2020.
In Nicosia, the number of building permits increased by 10.7% yearly (2,453 compared to 2,217 in 2020).
Finally, in the controlled areas of Famagusta, the number of building permits increased by only 5.6%. 286 new facilities received licenses, compared to 271 in 2020.
It is worth noting that building permits are a leading indicator of future activity in the construction sector. Based on this, it is possible to draw very disappointing conclusions for the Cyprus residential real estate market.