The area and value of housing projects for which local authorities issued a building permit rose in January 8.7% and 8% to 57,982 square metres and €53.2m respectively, Cystat said on its website on Wednesday. The new permits provide for the construction of 243 new housing units compared to 204 a year before.

Non-housing projects that obtained a building permit dropped 61% and 51% in terms of construction volume and value to 10,357 square metres and €10.5m respectively in January compared to the same month of 2015, Cystat added.

Building permits are considered an important leading indicator for future economic activity.

Source: Cyprus Mail