Completed homes drop 20%, home building permits down 17% in H1

The number of building permits issued for homes fell 16.8% from a year earlier to 4,888 in H1 2012. The drop slowed from H1 2011 when the number of completed homes fell 35% and the number of building permits issued fell 36% yr/yr, earlier KSH figures show.

The number of completed homes peaked in 2004 and has fallen each year since 2007, including a 39% drop last year. The number of building permits issued for homes has fallen every year since 2004, and fell 28% in 2011. Permits issued in the first half for the construction of residential buildings were for a total useful space of 529,200sqm, 15.3% less than a year earlier, KSH said.

The pace of the drop halved from a year earlier. The number of the permits fell 14.1% yr/yr to 2,832 in H1 2012.

The average area of completed homes for which utilization permits were issued in H1 2012 was 104.0sqm, up 3.7sqm from a year earlier, and 42.8% of the newly completed homes was bigger than 100sqm, up from a 40.8% ratio in H1 2011.

The ratio of homes built by enterprises fell further, to 32% from 40pc in H1 2011. 65% of the homes completed in the first half were built by natural persons, as against 58% one year earlier, and only 43 homes were built by local councils as against 52 in H1 2011.

The number of construction permits issued for non-residential buildings rose 21.6% to 2,638 in H1 this year. These permits were for a total useful space of 1,251,600sqm, 29.2% more than a year earlier. The rises contrast with a 13pc drop in the number of such permits and a 38% drop of the total useful space in H1 2011.

The number of permits issued for industrial buildings rose 23.8% to 536 in H1 this year, but that for commercial use rose only 0.8% to 125. The number of permits for agricultural buildings rose 14.7% to 677 from a year earlier. The total useful floor space rose 61.9% in the industry segment, rose 27.4% for commercial buildings and rose 41.2% for agricultural buildings.

The number of new residential building permits issued was down yr/yr in every region of the country, with the steepest, 21.8% drop in Central Transdanubia and the least drop, of 4.2%, in the Souther Great Plain. By counties, Veszprém County registered the sharpest, 58.1% drop, while the neighbouring Fejér country posted a rise of 41.6%.

The number of new non-residential permits issued fell 2.7% yr/yr in H1 in Central Hungary, including a sharp 31.1% drop in Budapest, and was down 3.9% in Southern Danubia but rose in every other region. Western Transdanubia saw the biggest yr/yr rise, of 61.1%, followed by Northern Hungary (39.5%), the Northern Great Plain 24.8% and Central Transdanubia (21.2%). The number rose 14.2% in the Southern Great Plain.