Building construction value up 4.4% in June 2024

Building construction value rose 4.4 percent in June 2024 compared to the same month last year, driven by expanded floor areas despite a drop in the number of projects, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

The PSA said the number of construction starts, based on approved building permits, fell 9.0 percent to 13,170 in June 2024 from 14,477 in June 2023. Of these, residential buildings accounted for 8,933 starts, or 67.8 percent of the total. This marked a 7.5 percent decline from the previous year. The majority of residential construction projects were single-type houses, which comprised 7,377 starts (82.6 percent).

Non-residential construction saw 2,621 starts, down 8.3 percent year-on-year. Of these, 1,806 were commercial buildings.

Additions, alterations and repairs made up 3.0 percent, 7.3 percent and 2.0 percent of total constructions, respectively. Each category experienced an annual decline: additions dropped 30.9 percent, alterations decreased by 6.1 percent and repairs fell 29.5 percent.

The total value of construction in June 2024 reached P34.16 billion, up 4.4 percent from P32.72 billion in June 2023. Residential constructions contributed P17.05 billion, or nearly half (49.9 percent) of the total value, a 9.7 percent increase from the previous year. Single-type buildings had the highest construction value at P10.89 billion, accounting for 63.9 percent of the total residential value.

Non-residential buildings had a construction value of P13.96 billion, representing 40.9 percent of the total. This was a slight 0.04 percent increase year-on-year. Among non-residential projects, commercial-type buildings had the highest value, at P6.29 billion (45.1 percent).

The value of additions, alterations and repairs amounted to P0.68 billion (2.0 percent), P2.02 billion (5.9 percent) and P0.46 billion (1.3 percent), respectively. Additions and alterations saw declines of 21.6 percent and 2.4 percent, while repairs rose by 58.5 percent compared to the previous year.

The total floor area of constructions in June 2024 reached 2.66 million square meters, a 7.0 percent increase from 2.49 million square meters in June 2023. Non-residential projects accounted for 1.34 million square meters, or 50.2 percent of the total, marking a 15.4 percent increase. Residential construction floor area totaled 1.26 million square meters, or 47.3 percent of the total, a 1.4 percent decrease from the previous year.

The average cost of construction in June 2024 was P11,684.94 per square meter, 3.6 percent lower than the P12,126.60 per square meter recorded in June 2023. Residential buildings had the highest average cost at P13,533.86 per square meter, followed by non-residential buildings at P10,363.16, and additions at P10,173.49.

Among residential constructions, condominium-type projects had the highest average cost at P32,679.85 per square meter, while other residential types had the lowest at P6,236.57.

For non-residential buildings, institutional-type constructions recorded the highest average cost at P14,420.17 per square meter, while industrial-type buildings had the lowest at P6,411.45 per square meter.