Limassol building permits reached €1.8 bln in November

Cyprus building permits issued by local authorities during January-November 2019 increased by nearly 11% with their total value spiking 74% compared to the same 11-month period of 2018.

According to official data, the total value of building permits issued in the first 11 months of 2019 stood at €3.3 bln with 54% of this value recorded in Limassol.

Up until November, 6,571 building permits were issued against 5,929 in the previous year, an increase of 10.82%.

The total value of these permits increased by 73.8%, the total area covered rose 44.6% and the number of housing units provided was up by 49.6%.

Most building permits were issued in Nicosia with 2,334, followed by Limassol 1,961, Larnaca had 1,020, Paphos 974 and Famagusta 282.

In terms of both total value and total area, Limassol comes out top with €1.8 bln worth of permits and 1 million square meters, followed by Nicosia with a value of €623.1 mln and 584 sqm, Larnaca had €410.9 mln and 298 sqm, Paphos €299.4 mln and 236 sqm and Famagusta with €166.9 mln and 137 sqm.

In November alone, the number of building permits authorized stood at 707.

The total value of these permits reached €332.4 mln covering 222,400 sqm for the construction of 909 housing units.

Building permits constitute a leading indicator of future activity in the construction sector.