Construction sector in countercycle increases investment and GVA in 2020, say Associations.
Investment in construction showed a growth of 4.8%, in a year in which total investment recorded a variation of -4.9%, in year-on-year terms. Data are from industry associations.
Investment in construction increased by 4.8% in 2020, the year in which total investment in the country fell 4.9%, standing out as “the only branch of activity with growth” in Gross Value Added (GVA), highlighted this Friday sector associations.
“Investment in construction (GFCF – Gross Fixed Capital Formation) showed a growth of 4.8%, in a year in which total investment (FBC – Gross Capital Formation) registered a variation of -4.9%, in homologous terms. Also in terms of GVA, which recorded a variation of -6.4% in average terms, construction stood out as the only branch of activity with growth, with a variation of 3.3%, compared to the previous year”, refer to the associations of Civil Construction and Public Works Industry (AICCOPN) and Construction, Public Works and Services Companies (AECOPS) in a statement.
As they point out, these numbers confirm “the high resilience of the construction sector” which, in a year marked by the covid-19 pandemic, “resisted and surpassed the formulated estimates”.
With regard to the volume of new loans granted to individuals for house purchase, they totaled 11,389 million euros in 2020, which corresponded to an increase of 770 million euros (+7.31TP1Q) compared to 2019.
The total licensing of building and rehabilitation works recorded a "slight drop" of 3.4%, as a result of a stabilization in new constructions (-0.5%), while licenses for rehabilitation works decreased by 10.3% in terms counterparts.
Data for January of this year indicate that the value of housing properties - analyzed by the median value of the bank valuation carried out in the context of the granting of mortgage loans - maintained the growth trend, with an appreciation of 6.1% in year-on-year terms, to 1,170 euros per square meter, which corresponds to a new historic high.
In public works, the total number of contracts signed in January within the scope of public tenders (considering all the information reported on the Base Portal up to 15 February) increased by 26% year-on-year and recorded a year-on-year variation in time comparable (using as a basis for comparison to 2020 information available until February 15 of that year) from +76%.
As for public works tenders promoted, they decreased by 29%, but despite this slowdown in homologous monthly terms, the average calculated in the last three months shows an increase of 14% compared to the same period in 2020.
Regarding cement consumption in the domestic market, in January 2021, and after an “expressive growth” of 10.6% in 2020, it recorded a “slight decrease” of 2.8%, in homologous terms, to 262.2 thousand tons.
in Economic Newspaper
