A total of 218 building plans valued at N$332.9 million were approved by the City of Windhoek in November 2015, with one project classified as an addition to be built in Rocky Crest, valued at N$180.0 million. On a year to date basis, 2,394 plans were approved with a value of N$2.124 billion, versus 2,710 plans valued at N$2.054 billion for the same period last year. This represents a 3.4% increase in the value of plans approved on a year to date basis, posting growth for the first time in eleven months, largely due to the Rocky Crest property approved in November this year and a commercial property to be built in Lafrenz, valued at N$102.0 million approved in October. The below chart illustrates the value of plans approved on a year to date basis compared to previous years.
The 12-month cumulative value of plans approved increased from N$2.166 billion in October to N$2.369 billion this month, illustrated on the chart below. The figure is 8.3% more than a year ago, turning positive for the first time in eleven months. However, the cumulative number of plans approved continued to fall, down from 2,543 in October to 2,531 in November.
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.