According to data from the Ministry of Development, the construction sector is stabilizing itself. During the first quarter of 2019, permissions granted increased nearly 20%. However, the sector continues far below the numbers attained during the housing boom.

Although permits granted to build housing are far from the maximum highs registered in our country during the construction boom, when figures increased 700% compared to current ones, the construction sector continues growing slowily. Construction permits, both for new construction as well as renovations and/or additions, have increased for the second consecutive year, reaching 19% compared to last year during the first quarter.
By housing types, the permits for new apartment buildings have grown much more than those for single-family homes. However, there has hardly been a difference between permits for renovations and those necessary to add on to a building.
The average building surface area for new houses was around 200 m2 for single-family homes and around 120 m2 for apartment buildings.
The year could close above 100,000 permissions for new buildings, an improvement over data from the previous year although, as far as this quarter goes, the figures have not improved in over 10 years. The sector hopes to achieve the numbers reached in 2009.
During the real estate boom, 100,000 houses were registered in a single month. The record was in 2006, with 865,561 permits. Permits reached a monthly record low In August 2013, with only 1,585, while the record high was September 2006 with 126,753. These figures refer to the construction activity starting in 1991 when development started to record the statistics.