Q4 2007 Construction Permits Number Down

Bulgarian authorities have issued 4637 construction permits in the last quarter of 2007, a decrease of 4.9 per cent decrease over the previous three months and two percent lower than in the same period of 2006, data from the National Statistical Institute data showed.

Residential developments continued to account for the largest share of the total, with 2884 permits granted for total area of area of 2.4 million sq m, compared to 3110 permits for 2.1 million sq m in the previous quarter. The number of permits for administrative buildings went up to 145 from 114.

Bourgas region received the largest number of permits for a second quarter running, showing also a strong rise to 875 permits from 635 in July-September. Varna saw the number of permits drop from 568 to 516, a trend that was mirrored in Plovdiv (498 to 433) and Sofia (406 to 380).

Bourgas permits accounted for 19 per cent of the total number for the country in the fourth quarter of 2007, for 1.24 million sq m of real estate, or 27.9 per cent of the total area for which permits were issued in October-December.

Residential developments continued to account for the largest share of the total, with 2884 permits granted for total area of area of 2.4 million sq m, compared to 3110 permits for 2.1 million sq m in the previous quarter.