site.bta1,915 Residential Building Permits Issued in Q4 of 2024, Down 15.8%, Y/Y

In the fourth quarter of 2024, municipal authorities issued building permits for the construction of 1,915 residential buildings, down by 9.4% from the previous quarter of 2024 and by 15.8% from the like period of 2023, the National Statistical Institute reported on Monday. The buildings contained 9,861 dwellings, a 7% increase quarter on quarter.

Building permits were issued for 15 administrative buildings/offices spread across a floor area of 34,929 sq m. That is a quarter-on-quarter decrease of 16.7% and 42.3% in terms of their number and their floor area respectively. A total of 1,185 other buildings with a floor area of 628,133 received permits, which is a quarter-on-quarter increase of 2% and 9.7% in their number and floor area respectively.

As compared to the fourth quarter of 2023, the issued building permits for new residential buildings decreased by 15.8%, while their floor area shrank by 41.3%. The issued building permits for administrative buildings and their floor area decreased by 31.8% and by 59.5% respectively. The issued building permits for other buildings fell by 6%, as did their floor area by 28.7%.

The highest number of building permits for new residential buildings was issued in the regions of Plovdiv (340), Sofia (247) and Varna (173).

The construction of 1,539 residential buildings with 8,601 dwellings and 956 979 sq m of floor area, eight administrative buildings/offices with 6,114 sq m floor area, and 600 other buildings with 373,504 sq m floor area began in the last quarter of 2024.

Compared to the previous quarter, the started residential buildings decreased by 0.9%, while their dwellings increased by 28.2%, and the floor area rose by 2.3%. The started administrative buildings and their floor area registered a drop of 33.3% and 72.2% respectively. The started other buildings increased by 3.8%, while their floor area dropped by 14.9%.

Compared to the fourth quarter of 2023, the number of started new residential buildings increased by 0.3%, their dwellings increased by 16.5%, and the floor area jumped by 11.6%. The number of started administrative buildings was unchanged, but their floor area went up by 17.3%. The started other buildings dropped by 6.4%, and their floor area fell by 31.5%.