Residential construction in South Moravia declined in Q1, building permits decreased

Residential construction in South Moravia declined in the first quarter of this year, both in the number of completed and started residential buildings. Fewer building permits were issued in the three months than last year, according to data published by the Brno office of the Czech Statistical Office (ČSÚ).

In the first three months of this year, 1,143 flats were completed in the region, which is 152 fewer than in the first quarter of last year. This represents a decrease of more than 11 percent. The decline was greater for the construction of family houses, which were completed by 12.3 percent less than last year, while the number of flats in apartment buildings was 10 percent less. In a comparison of regions, the number of completed flats decreased in six regions, including South Moravia.

The highest number of residential buildings was completed in Brno, 403, which represents 35 per cent of the whole region. Completed flats increased year-on-year only in Vyškov and Znojmo regions.

The number of commenced constructions of flats and family houses declined more slowly year-on-year, decreasing by 9.3 per cent, i.e. by 101 flats to a total of 981. "The decline was mainly attributable to construction in new apartment buildings, which decreased by 136 flats, i.e. by 42.4 percent. An increase of 121 dwellings, i.e. 28.1 percent, was recorded in new family houses," said Tomáš Svozil from the Brno office of the ČSÚ.. The number of construction starts declined in ten regions of the Czech Republic.

The largest share of construction starts was in the southern Moravia region of Brno, where 26.5 per cent of the region's housing starts took place, while in Brno alone it was 20.7 per cent.

The development of the construction industry in the region for the coming months is foreshadowed by the number of building permits issued, which fell by 1.2 per cent year-on-year to a total of 1,901 building permits. This was the second highest number among the other counties, while the decline in the number of permits was the second lowest among the counties.

The highest number of building permits, almost a quarter, was issued in the Brno region, the lowest in the Vyškov region. The indicative value of buildings for which building permits were issued decreased by 12.9 percent year-on-year, i.e. by two billion crowns to a total of 13.2 billion crowns.

Source: ČSÚ and CTK