Total number of approved building permits went down by 1.8 percent

The total number of approved building permits during the fourth quarter of 2006 reached 24,330, representing a decrease of 1.8 percent from the 24,777 approved building permits recorded during the same period of 2005.
Approved building permits for residential building construction dropped by 1.8 percent to 16,096 from 16,383 during the same period of 2005.
Those for non-residential building construction, on the other hand, jumped by 37.4 percent to 4,380 approved building permits from 3,187 during the same period of 2005.
Combined approved building permits for additions, alterations and repairs likewise decreased by 26.0 percent to 3,854 from 5,207 approved building permits. Figure 1 compares the number of approved building permits by type for the fourth quarters of 2006 and 2005.

Number of building construction dips by 4.3 percent

Approved building permits nationwide summed up to 26,563 applications during the second quarter of 2006, representing a decrease of 4.3 percent compared with 27,773 approved building permits recorded over the same period of last year.
Decreases in applications were observed for residential building construction and additions, alterations and repairs. Residential building construction went down by 7.6 percent from 19,370 to 17,904. Combined approved building permits for additions, alterations and repairs dropped by 19.3 percent from 5,405 to 4,364. Figure 1 compares the number of approved building permits by type of building for the second quarters of 2006 and 2005 (Table A).

Approved building permits applications decrease by 4.4 percent

Approved building permits nationwide reached 24,777 during the fourth quarter of 2005, representing a 4.4 percent drop from the 25,906 approved building permits recorded during the same period of 2004.
An increase in applications, however, was observed for non-residential building construction, addition, alteration and repairs. Non-residential building construction increased by 11.6 percent to 3,187 approved building permits from 2,855 of the same period of last year. Combined approved building permits for additions, alterations and repairs also went up by 7.9 percent to 5,207 approved building permits from 4,825. Figure 1 compares the number of approved building permits by type of building for the fourth quarters of 2005 and 2004 (Table A).