Q4’19 residential permits increase 2.4% YoY; the approved GBA for office building shrinks in half

Q4’19 issued residential building permits rose 2.4% YoY to 1.5k. The total GBA prompted for construction dropped 38.5% YoY and stood at 895.9k m2. 21 administrative and office buildings received permits during Q4 (-36.4% YoY) with total GBA of 21.1k m2 (-90.6% YoY). The construction of 993 residential building began in Q4’19 (+6.2%YoY) for a total GBA of 682.2k m2 (-10% YoY). A total of 11.8k m2 (+21.3%YoY) of administrative and office space’s construction began during the quarter (11 buildings, flat YoY). The permits for Other constructs were 1.1k (-16.4% YoY) with 610.3k m2 of GBA (-21.8% YoY). In Other, the construction of new projects initiated in Q4’19 was 1.6% less YoY with a 29.4% YoY decrease in GBA.