Cyprus construction output drops 16.5% in Q1

**Building permits still in decline**

The index for production in construction fell by 16.5% compared with the same period of the previous year in the first quarter of 2012, recording its 14th consecutive quarter of decline.
Building construction fell by 11.3% while the civil engineering, boosted last year by roadbuilding, fell by 30.6%.
Construction output prices in the first quarter rose by just 0.1% compared with the same period of the previous year and by 0.5% compared with the fourth quarter.
Meanwhile, there is little comfort about the future from building permits, which are a leading indicator of future activity.
After a shortlived increase in March, the number of building permits authorised in April 2012 fell by 10.9% over the year earlier to 500.
The value of these permits dropped by 32.4% to reach EUR 106.0 mln and the area by 39.2% to 106,275 square metres.
Permits for dwellings fell by 39% to 373.
In the period January – April 2012, the number of building permits authorised fell by 5.3% compared with the same period of the previous year but the number of dwellings authorised fell by 44.1%.