*June figures were used for plans completed
A total of 189 building plans valued at N$145 million were approved by the City of Windhoek in July 2015. On a year to date basis, 1,552 plans were approved with a value of N$1249.8 million, versus 1,679 plans valued at N$1505.8 million for the same period last year. This represents a 17% decrease in the value of plans approved on a year to date basis. This decrease is mainly due to base effects as three large commercial projectswere approved by the municipality in February 2014. On a month to date basis, the value of plans approved decreased by 13.2%, due to a fall in the value of approved commercial property and houses compared to June. The below chart illustrates the value of plans approved in July compared to previous months.
The 12-month cumulative value of plans approved also fell from N$2057.2 million in June to N$2042.3 million this month, along with the cumulative number of plans approved, which fell from 2802 in June to 2719. These figures are presented in the charts below.
In our view, the construction sector will remain one of the leading growth and development sectors for 2015 in the Namibian economy, with both private sector and government having aggressive development plans. However, since many of these plans occur outside the Windhoek municipal area, they are not captured in the monthly building plan statistics.