The construction market in the stable decline
According to Statistics Estonia, in the 3rd quarter of 2009 compared to the same period of the previous year, the total production of Estonian construction enterprises decreased 29%. In the 1st quarter of the present year the production was 31% and in the 2nd quarter 28% smaller than a year ago.
In the 3rd quarter of 2009, the production value of construction enterprises amounted to 6.4 billion kroons, of which the production value of building construction was 3.7 billion kroons and the production of civil engineering totalled 2.7 billion kroons. Compared to the same quarter of 2008, the volume of building construction decreased by about a third and the volume of civil engineering by a fourth at constant prices. The decline was caused mainly by the decreased volumes in dwelling construction on domestic construction market. The construction of civil engineering decreased more compared to the previous periods.
On the contrary to the domestic construction market, which is in decline stage, the construction volume in foreign countries increased 10% compared to the 3rd quarter a year ago. The growth was caused by the building construction. The share of construction volumes in the foreign countries accounted for 9% of the total volume of construction in the 3rd quarter.
Compared to the 2nd quarter of the present year, the seasonally and working-day adjusted construction volume decreased by 8%.
According to the data of the Register of Construction Works, in the 3rd quarter of 2009 the number of dwelling completions was 689, i.e. a third less than in the same period of 2008. Half of completed dwellings were situated in blocks of flats. In spite of the decreasing construction costs the demand for new dwellings has been continuously decreasing. In the 3rd quarter of 2009 building permits were granted for the construction of 359 dwellings, which is three times less compared to the same period of 2008. The most popular type of building was one-family dwelling.
In the 3rd quarter of 2009, the number of completed non-residential buildings was 233 with the useful floor area of 156,000 square metres. The useful floor area of commercial and office buildings increased the most. Compared to the 3rd quarter of 2008, the useful floor area and the cubic capacity of completed non-residential buildings decreased.
Construction volume index and its trend, 1st quarter 2000 – 3rd quarter 2009
(average of quarters of 2005 = 100)
