site.btaPermits for New Residential Buildings Up 6.1% in Q2 of 2024, Q/Q

Building permits issued and construction of new buildings have increased during the second quarter of 2024, after a 20% national drop at the start of 2024, the National Statistical Institute (NSI) said in a report on Friday. The number of dwellings and their total developed area continued to decrease in the second quarter, albeit at a slower pace.

In the second quarter of 2024, the municipal authorities issued building permits for the construction of 1,935 residential buildings with 10,271 dwellings and 1,191,503 sq. m gross building area (GBA), 16 administrative buildings/offices with 18,179 sq. m GBA and 1,173 other buildings with 445,041 sq. m GBA, the NSI report says.

As compared to the previous quarter, the issued building permits for residential buildings increased by 6.1%, while their dwellings decreased by 2.1% and GBA – by 1.0%. Building permits issued for administrative buildings have shown a decrease of 40.7% and their GBA – by 69.1%. Issued building permits for other buildings rose by 7.2%, but their GBA fell by 16.8%.

The highest number of building permits for new residential buildings was issued in the following regions: Plovdiv – 365, Sofia (capital) – 250, Varna – 180, Sofia – 177 and Burgas – 167.

The construction of the highest number of new buildings was started in the following regions: Plovdiv - 312 residential buildings, 3 administrative buildings and 86 other buildings; Sofia (capital) – 320 residential buildings, 4 administrative buildings and 35 other buildings; Sofia – 162 residential buildings and 27 other buildings; Varna – 156 residential buildings, 4 administrative buildings and 19 other buildings.

As compared to the second quarter of 2023, the issued building permits for new residential buildings decreased by 4.9%, their dwellings - by 15% and the GBA – by 13.8%. Permits were issued for 14.3% more administrative buildings, with a 25.2% larger GBA. The issued building permits for other buildings fell by 14.6%, as well as their GBA – by 29.6%.