Construction industry rebounds

TALLINN - Third quarter numbers for this year, compared to the same period in 2009, according to Statistics Estonia, show that the total production for Estonian construction enterprises in Estonia and in foreign countries increased 1.2 percent, reports news agency LETA. The decline on the construction market, which had lasted for two and half years, compared to the same quarter of the previous year turned to a rise again in the 3rd quarter this year.

The increase was caused by the construction companies operating in foreign countries. The construction volume of these enterprises increased by about a fourth compared to the 3rd quarter of 2009. The increase was due to building construction. At the same time the decline in building construction on the domestic market continued. Although the construction of civil engineering works increased significantly, the total domestic market could not gain growth yet in yearly comparisons because of the low level in building construction. The construction volumes on the domestic construction market fell 1 percent compared to the 3rd quarter of 2009.

In the 3rd quarter of 2010, the production value of construction enterprises amounted to 6.4 billion kroons (408 million euros), of which the production value of building construction was 3.3 billion kroons and the production of civil engineering totaled 3.1 billion kroons. Compared to the same period of 2009, the volume of building construction decreased 9 percent and the volume of civil engineering increased 15 percent at constant prices.
Compared to the 2nd quarter of 2010, the seasonally and working-day adjusted construction volume increased by 7 percent.

According to the data of the Register of Construction Works, in the 3rd quarter of 2010 the number of dwelling completions was 481, i.e. about half of the same period of 2009. Sixty-five percent of completed dwellings were situated in blocks of flats. The majority of completed dwellings were situated in Tallinn. The demand for new dwellings is increasing. In the 3rd quarter building permits were granted for the construction of 526 dwellings, which exceeded the number of dwellings in the 2nd quarter this year as well as in the 3rd quarter of 2009. The most popular type of building was the single-family dwelling.

In the 3rd quarter of 2010, the number of completed non-residential buildings was 174, with useful floor area of 87,000 square meters. The useful floor area of office and commercial buildings increased the most. Compared to the 3rd quarter of 2009, the useful floor area and the cubic capacity of completed non-residential buildings decreased.