The increase was mainly on a 43% rise in the construction area of housing projects that received a building permit from local authorities in the first eleven months of 2017 to 1,063,650 compared to the respective period of 2016, Cystat said in a statement on its website on Tuesday. The overall value of housing projects rose 49% to over €1.1bn.

Less than 30% of the construction activity which received the go-ahead from the local administration is in Nicosia while that in Limassol makes up more than 37%, Cystat said. Around 13% of the projects are in Larnaca and Paphos each and 6.6% in the Famagusta area.

The construction area of non-housing construction projects licensed by the local administration rose an annual 38% to 225,238 square metres while their total value rose 41% to €298.3m in January to November, Cystat said.

Source: Cyprus Mail