Approved building permits increased 0.5% year-on-year in January, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Friday.
Preliminary data showed the number of construction projects covered by permits rose to 13,577 in January from 13,504 a year earlier.
This was a change from an 11.5% decline in January 2025 and a revised 2.6% decline in December.
Construction projects covered 2.80 million square meters (sq.m.) of floor space, down 29.4% year-on-year from 3.96 million sq.m.
Approved construction projects cost P37.05 billion in January, down from P51.63 billion in the same month in 2025.
“The uptick in January building permits may be due to the small construction projects that were carried out at the beginning of the year,” Marco Antonio C. Agonia, an economist at the University of Asia and the Pacific, said in an email.
“Although the reading of permits looks encouraging, the real increase was for the development of existing buildings and small projects such as roads and billboards,” he added.
Mr. Agonia noted that this is in contrast to the year-on-year decrease in the total area of approved permits for residential and non-residential projects.
“The takeover of permits reflects delayed projects moving forward as confidence improves, especially in construction related to commerce and infrastructure,” said Jonathan L. Ravelas, senior consultant at Reyes Tacandong & Co., in a Viber message.
Residential construction, which made up 60.1% of total construction, fell 0.6% in January to 8,156 from 8,204 a year ago.
This type of construction reached P16.97 billion, down from P21.83 billion in the same month in 2025.
According to Mr. Agonia, the annual decline in residential construction can be attributed to developers who are “reluctant to commit to major construction projects early, preferring instead to postpone them.”
To Mr. Ravelas, “residential construction remains cautious as affordability and financial costs are still a concern for households.”
Single-family homes, which comprise 82.5% of residential properties, fell 8.7% year-on-year to 6,727 in January from 7,367.
Meanwhile, non-residential construction also fell 3.8% year over year to 3,292 from 3,423. This made up 24.2% of the total construction for the month.
Non-residential building permits were estimated at P16.25 billion, lower than the P25.94 billion registered in January 2025.
Commercial building permits increased 7.2% year-over-year to 2,315 from 2,495. These made up 70.3% of all non-residential buildings.
Approved building permits for additions, or any new construction that increases the height or area of an existing building, increased by 4.9% year-on-year to 495 from 472 last year.
On the other hand, conversions and repairs totaled 1,111, down 0.4% from 1,115, and amounted to P2.68 billion.
Regionally, Calabarzon had the highest number of approved building permits at 3,177, accounting for 23.4% of all permits.
This was followed by Central Luzon (11.7% share with 1,585 permits) and Ilocos Region (8.9 percent share with 1,204 permits).
Mr. Ravelas sees steady sales growth going forward.
Mr. Agonia expects construction project permits to remain “flat” in the coming months, citing pressure from the war in the Middle East.
“While price cuts will help, high interest rates since the Middle East war, the cost of excess construction materials, and consumer pessimism may dampen the appetite of developers,” he added. – Isa Jane D. Acabal
