Green shoots in Cyprus construction sector?

The number of building permits rose in Cyprus in January, raising hopes that we might just be seeing the first green shoots of a sector that has seen two punishing years of contraction in 2009-10.
The number of building permits authorised by the municipal authorities and the district administration offices during January 2011 reached 638, marking a rise of 3.1% over January 2011. This was the first rise in ten months that an increase was recorded.
Building permits constitute a leading indicator of future activity in the construction sector. However, it is probably too early to crack open the champagne, not least because monthly fluctuations are common.
Moreover, the value of these permits reached EUR 157.8 mln, marking a fall of 20.3% over the year earlier.
Similarly, the area authorised was 167,251 square metres, a drop of 26.9% compared with January 2010.
Moreover, there seems to be no let-up in the decline of housing construction, with the number of dwelling authorised down by 39% to 787. FM