THE number of constructions in the first quarter of 2021 has recorded a total of 33,627, indicating an annual expansion of 1.4 percent, the Philippine Statistics Authority said.
The increase was in contrast with the previous quarter’s annual drop of 11.3 percent. In the first quarter of 2020, the number of constructions decreased by 23 percent annually.
By type of construction, residential reported the highest number of constructions during the quarter at 23,364 or 69.5 percent of the total number of constructions.
This type of construction increased at an annual rate of 6.2 percent which was contradictory to the annual decline of 27.2 percent in the same quarter of the previous year.
Majority or 89.4 percent of the total residential constructions were single-type houses.
Non-residential constructions, which accounted for 15.8 percent of the total constructions during the quarter, ranked second. It decreased at an annual rate of 13.5 percent relative to its count in the same period of the previous year. About 67.4 percent of the non-residential constructions were commercial buildings.
Addition, which refers to any new construction that increases the height or area of an existing building/structure, and alteration and repair of existing structures had shares of 2.6 percent and 12.2 percent, respectively, to the total number of constructions.
Compared with their respective annual rates in the same quarter of the previous year, addition-type of construction dropped at a rate of 30.4 percent while alteration and repair increased at a rate of 7.7 percent.
Number of constructions
Calabarzon remained to have the highest number of constructions with 7,288 constructions or 21.7 percent share to the total during the quarter. Completing the top three regions were Ilocos Region with 4,015 constructions (11.9 percent) and Central Luzon with 3,722 constructions (11.1 percent).
Value of constructions
Moreover, in the first quarter of 2021, the total value of constructions was P80 billion, which represents an annual decline of 12.1 percent. The value of constructions also dropped at an annual rate of 40.3 percent in the previous quarter and 20.4 percent in the first quarter of 2020.
Residential building constructions, valued at P46.2 billion, accounted for 57.8 percent of the total value of constructions in the first quarter of 2021. This construction value expanded by 19.3 percent from the P38.8 billion total construction value in the same quarter of 2020.
The value of non-residential constructions, which amounted to P29.1 billion, accounted for 36.3 percent of the total value during the quarter. This translates to a 37.7 percent downturn from the P46.6 billion value of construction in the same quarter of the previous year.
For this quarter, the value of construction for addition, and alteration and repair to existing structures amounted to P1.4 billion (1.8 percent) and P3.3 billion (4.1 percent), respectively. Both types of constructions declined at an annual rate of 19.7 percent for addition and 14.9 percent for alteration and repair of existing structure.
The combined shares of the top three regions, in terms of value of constructions, totaled to P49.7 billion or 62.2 percent of the total.
These regions were the National Capital Region with P27.4 billion (34.2 percent), Calabarzon with P14.2 billion (17.7 percent), Central Luzon with P8.2 billion (10.2 percent).
Floor area
Meanwhile, the total floor area of constructions for this quarter was posted at 6.4 million square meters (sq.m), indicating an annual decline of 23 percent. This decline was slower than the previous quarter’s annual decrease of 34.1 percent.
In the first quarter of 2020, the total floor area likewise decreased by 17.5 percent.
Residential accounted for more than half of the total floor area of constructions.
Residential constructions recorded 3.8 million sq.m. or 59.2 percent of the total floor area of constructions this quarter. It increased at an annual rate of 4.2 percent compared to the previous year’s same quarter annual decline of 19.1 percent.
Similarly, non-residential construction, which accounted for 2.5 million sq.m. or 36.6 percent of the total floor area of constructions, exhibited a faster annual decrease of 45.4 percent from the previous year’s same quarter annual drop of 16.4 percent.
The average cost of construction, excluding those for alteration and repair, was P11,908 per sq.m. in the first quarter of 2021. This represents an annual increase of 14.3 percent.
On the contrary, average cost of construction recorded annual decreases of 12.5 percent in the previous quarter and 1.8 percent in the first quarter of 2020.
Among types of constructions, residential had the highest average cost of P12,128 per sq.m. during the quarter. This was followed by non-residential with P11,711 per sq.m., and addition to existing constructions with P10,097 per sq.m.
Residential condominium construction was the most expensive among types of residential construction.
Among residential constructions, condominiums had the highest average cost of P20,258 per sq.m. during the quarter while single type residential recorded the lowest at P10,172 per sq.m.
Institutional-type buildings were the costliest among non-residential buildings.
For this quarter, institutional-type building constructions reported the highest average cost of P15,234 per sq.m. among types of non-residential buildings. On the contrary, agricultural-type building constructions continued to register the lowest average construction cost of P4,790 per sq.m. / koc