According to the National Statistics Institute (INE), in the first quarter of 2021, 6,500 buildings were licensed, increasing 7.0% compared to the same period of the previous year (+1.0% in the fourth quarter of 2020).
Licensed new builds increased by 8.4%, while the licensing for rehabilitation was up 1.5% (+3.4% and -6.3%, in the same order, in the fourth quarter of 2020). On the other hand, completed buildings decreased by 13.6% (-4.1% in Q4 2020) for 3,700 buildings.
In the previous quarter, INE reported that the number of licensed buildings grew by 11.6% (-2.4% in the fourth quarter of 2020), and the number of completed buildings increased by 0.4% (+1.0% in the fourth quarter of 2020). The monthly analysis showed that after year-on-year decreases in January and February, the number of buildings licensed increased by 43.6% in March and 64.1% in April. Compared with the same months of 2019, the growth is also relevant, with increases of 25.9% in March and 25.7% in April.
In the first quarter of 2021, 6,500 buildings were licensed, and 3,700 buildings were completed in Portugal. Of the total, 73.2% were new builds and, of these, 80.2% were for family housing. The buildings licensed for demolition (430 buildings) corresponded to 6.6% of the total number of buildings approved in the first quarter of 2021.
The only region that saw a drop in licensing in the first quarter of 2021 was the Autonomous Region of the Azores (-0.9%). The remaining areas grew, particularly the Metropolitan Area of Lisbon (+13.2%), the Alentejo (+11.8%) and the Centre (+6.4%). The number of licensed new builds grew by 8.4% compared to the first quarter of 2020, while rehabilitation works were up by 1.5%.
Compared to the previous quarter, licensing in new construction increased by 13.7% and rehabilitation works grew by 8.4%, INE indicates. With the exception of the Autonomous Region of the Azores (-1.3%), all of the country’s regions recorded year-on-year growth in licensing for new construction, with the Autonomous Region of Madeira (+27.1%), the Lisbon Metropolitan Area (+13.3%) and the North (+9.5%) standing out.
For new builds for family housing, 6,800 new dwellings were licensed in the first quarter of 2021. This figure represents an increase of 6.8% in comparison with the first quarter of 2020 (+9.3% in the fourth quarter of 2020). The Lisbon Metropolitan Area and the Autonomous Region of Madeira were the only ones to show a negative year-on-year changes (-11.7% and -11.6%, respectively).
The National Statistics Institute underlines today the growth of this variable in all the other regions, with greater relevance in the Algarve (+72.5%), with emphasis on the licensing of several real estate projects, namely in the municipality of Silves. In Portugal, in the first quarter of 2021, the total licensed area increased 5.3% year-on-year (-3.3% in the fourth quarter of 2020). The performance of this indicator was not similar in all regions.
The Algarve region reported the highest growth (+76.3%) as a result of the licensing of buildings with a higher number of floors and higher total building areas. The North and Centre regions also recorded year-on-year growth (+10.6% and +8.2%, respectively). On the other hand, the Autonomous Region of the Azores and the Autonomous Region of Madeira registered the most significant decreases: -33.5% and -26.8%, in the same order.
