The number of licensed buildings in Portugal in the second quarter fell 7.1% compared to the same period last year, to 6,162 buildings, according to the National Statistics Institute. Compared to the previous quarter, the decrease was 6% and the number of completed buildings fell 1.6%, with 3,878 buildings completed in total.
The Algarve registered one of the biggest drops in the number of licensed buildings, with a decline of 24.9%, only behind Greater Lisbon, which had the biggest drop at -35.1%. The Setúbal Peninsula also showed a significant decrease of 20.3%. In the opposite direction, only the Autonomous Region of Madeira (25.2%) and the North (0.2%) achieved year-on-year increases.
Of the buildings licensed in the second quarter, 77.5% were for new construction, of which 83.1% were intended for family housing. Licensing of buildings for new construction fell 5.6%, while in rehabilitation works the decline was 11.9%.
In the family housing segment, the number of licensed housing units in new constructions grew 10.8%, reaching 11,834, after the year-on-year decline of 2.6% in the first quarter. The number of completed housing units also increased 11.6% year-on-year, to 7,437, reversing the 1.5% decline recorded in the previous quarter.
