Construction activity up in Q3

Construction activity jumped in the third quarter, boosted by the spike in demand for residential property.

The National Statistics Office reported that the number of construction activities totaled 29,145 in the third quarter, up by nearly 7 percent from 27,323 in the same period last year.

Construction activities are measured using the number of building permits issued during a period.

The increase in construction activities was due mainly to the rise in the construction of residential properties, which more than offset the drop in the building of nonresidential types.

Residential construction activities rose year-on-year by nearly 12 percent to 21,842.

On the other hand, nonresidential construction activities fell year-on-year by 11.5 percent to 3,263.

Repairs and alterations of, as well as additions to existing properties accounted for the balance of 4,040. These were down by 1.75 percent from the number reported in the same period last year.

The NSO also reported that the value of all construction activities in the third quarter amounted to P71.4 billion, up by 11 percent from a year ago.

Economists attributed the rise in demand for residential properties to rising household incomes, which were partly driven by remittances from overseas-based Filipinos.

Remittances to the Philippines have continued to grow despite economic problems in some labor markets abroad.

Government officials said one reason was that many overseas Filipino workers are in sectors such as health care and education, which are not significantly affected by economic crises.