House constructions pick up in first quarter

The number of building constructions increased by 1.4 percent in the first quarter of 2021 to 33,627, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.

The first-quarter increase represented a strong rebound from the 11.3-percent drop recorded in the fourth quarter of 2020 and the 23-percent slump a year ago.

Data from the PSA show that residential constructions in the first three months reached 23,364 or 69.5 percent of the total number of constructions during the period. 

This type of construction increased by 6.2 percent which was contradictory to the annual decline of 27.2 percent in the same quarter of 2020.

About 89.4 percent of the total residential constructions were single-type houses. 

Meanwhile, non-residential constructions, which accounted for 15.8 percent of the total constructions in the first the quarter, decreased by 13.5 percent relative to its count in the same period last year.

About 67.4 percent of the non-residential constructions were commercial buildings. 

Addition, which refers to any new construction that increases the height or area of an existing building/structure, and alteration and repair of existing structures had shares of 2.6 percent and 12.2 percent, respectively, to the total number of constructions. 

Compared with their respective annual rates in the same quarter of 2020, addition-type of construction dropped at a rate of 30.4 percent while alteration and repair increased at a rate of 7.7 percent. 

CALABARZON posted the highest number of constructions with 7,288 or 21.7 percent of the total in the first quarter. Ilocos Region followed with 4,015 constructions and Central Luzon with 3,722 constructions.

In the first quarter of 2021, the total value of constructions amounted to P80.0 billion, which represents an annual decline of 12.1 percent. 

Residential building constructions, valued at P46.2 billion, accounted for 57.8 percent of the total value of constructions in the first quarter. This construction value increased by 19.3 percent from P38.8 billion total construction value in the same quarter of 2020. 

The value of non-residential constructions amounted to P29.1 billion, down by 37.7 percent from P46.6 billion in the same quarter of the previous year. 

The total floor area of constructions in the first quarter reached 6.4 million square meters, indicating an annual decline of 23.0 percent. 

Residential constructions recorded 3.8 million square meters or 59.2 percent of the total floor area in the first quarter of 2021, up by 4.2 percent from a year ago.

Non-residential constructions accounted for 2.5 million square meters or 36.6 percent of the total floor area, down by 45.4 percent from the previous year.

The average cost of construction, excluding those for alteration and repair, was P11,908 per square meter in the first quarter of 2021. This represents an annual increase of 14.3 percent. 

Among the types of constructions, residential had the highest average cost of P12,128 per square meter in the first the quarter. This was followed by non-residential with P11,711 per square meter, and addition to existing constructions with P10,097 per square meter. 

Among residential constructions, condominiums had the highest average cost of P20,258 per square meter in the first quarter while single-type residential recorded the lowest at P10,172 per square meter.