Category Archives: Building Plans

A total of 161 building plans were approved in May by the City of Windhoek, which is three fewer the 164 approvals in April. In value terms, however, approvals increased by N$31.2 million to N$127.7 million, a 32.3% m/m increase from April. A total of 201 completions to the value of N$51.6 million were recorded in May. The year-to-date value of approved building plans reached N$653.9 million, 43.7% lower than the comparative period a year ago. On a twelve-month cumulative basis, 1,916 building plans were approved worth approximately N$1.7 billion, 27.7% lower in value terms than approvals as at the end of May 2017.

Of the total 161 plans approved in May, additions to properties accounted for 121 of these approvals. Year-to-date, 591 additions to properties have been approved, decreasing by 0.8% y/y but rising 24.3% y/y in value terms to N$446.6 million.

New residential units were the second largest contributor to the number of building plans approved with 37 approvals registered in May, only one more than the 36 approvals in April. Year-to-date, 133 new residential units have been approved, three fewer than during the corresponding period in 2017. In monetary terms, N$171.5 million worth of residential plans have been approved year-to-date, a contraction of 31.6% when compared to the corresponding period last year.

Commercial and industrial building plans approved in May amounted to 3 units, worth N$3.1 million. This is two more than in the prior month, but a decline of 61.3% m/m and 99.4% y/y in value terms. Year-to-date, 17 plans for commercial and industrial purposes have been approved, valued at N$35.9 million. This compares to 16 units valued at N$551.3 million approved over the same period in 2017. On a rolling 12-month perspective, the number of commercial and industrial approvals have decreased by 17.7% y/y in May to 51 units.

The 12-month cumulative number of building plans approved increased by 8.0% as at the end of May when compared to the corresponding period in 2017. A total of 1,916 building plans to the value of N$1.7 billion were approved over the last 12 months which represents a decrease in value of 27.7% y/y due to a single project worth N$501 million dropping out of the 12-month cumulative range. The number of building plans approved, on a cumulative 12-month basis, has been increasing steadily since December 2017.

Consumer and business confidence, as measured by the IJG Business Climate Monitor, showed improvement in April 2018, rising to 51.94 points from 50.87 in March. The leading indicator, however, fell to 43.75 points from 47.6 in March, as a result of reduced government spending, a weaker currency and slow private sector credit extension. This is an indication that forecasts for a sustained recovery from the recession observed in 2017 remain fragile. No relief is expected in terms of interest rate cuts or increased fiscal stimulus in the short term.

A total of 164 building plans were approved by the City of Windhoek in April. This is a m/m increase of 27.1% from the 129 plans approved in March and follows from two consecutive months of declines in the number of building plans approved. In value terms approvals increased by N$14.1 million to N$96.5 million, representing a 17.1% m/m increase in April. The number of completions for the month of April stood at 231, valued at N$55.5 million. The year-to-date value of approved building plans reached N$526.2 million, 4.1% higher than the comparative period in 2017. On a twelve-month cumulative basis, 1,937 building plans have been approved as at the end of April, an increase of 14.3% y/y. The 12-month cumulative value of plans approved reached approximately N$2.2 billion, an increase of 27.9%.

Additions to properties made up 127 out of the total 164 approved building plans recorded in April. This is a 19.8% m/m increase in additions from the 106 additions recorded in March. Year-to-date 470 additions to properties have been approved with a value of N$372 million, rising 35.2% y/y in terms of value.

New residential units were the second largest contributor to the number of building plans approved with 36 approvals registered in April, a m/m increase of 90% compared to the 19 residential units approved in March. Year-to-date, 96 new residential units have been approved, 4% less during than the corresponding period in 2017. In value terms, N$41 million worth of residential units were approved in April, 70% more than the N$25 million worth of residential approvals in March. The year-to-date value of residential approvals reached N$122 million, 32.6% lower than during the corresponding period in 2017.

Only 1 new commercial unit valued at N$8 million was approved in April, bringing the year-to-date number of approvals to 14, worth a total N$32.8 million. On a rolling 12-month perspective the number of commercial and industrial approvals have slowed to 51 units as at April, compared to the 61 approved over the corresponding period a year ago. The 12-month cumulative building plans approved within the last 12 months include a single project worth N$501 million and the average approvals in terms of value for this period was N$56.7 million. Excluding this single large project, approvals from a 12-month cumulative basis decline by almost 34% and indicates the generally low level of investment from the business community.

From a 12-month cumulative perspective, 1,937 total building plans have been approved by April, an increase of 14.3% when compared to the corresponding period in 2017. The 12-month cumulative number of approvals has been ticking up since December 2017 and does provide for an optimistic view for approvals to return to above the 2,000-mark, last seen exactly 2 years ago. Consumer and business confidence, as measured by the IJG Business Climate Monitor, fell slightly to 50.8 points in March from 50.9 in February. That it remains above the 50-point mark does signal that an economic turnaround could be on the horizon.

The interest rate environment has changed since the turn of the year. Monetary easing was widely expected to spur economic growth in 2018. This expectation dissipated with the market now not pricing in any more rate cuts in South Africa for 2018. What seems more likely at present is a possible rate hiking cycle, driven by recent rand weakness and an increasing oil price. These two inputs will weigh heavily on the SARB’s inflation expectations with risks being toward the upside, changing the narrative towards higher interest rates should inflation rise outside of the SARB’s target band of 3%-6%. BoN, which has kept its repo rate unchanged and simultaneously adding a 25bps buffer over the SA rate, is likely only to react if the SARB hikes rates beyond BoN’s current 6.75% repo rate. This effectively will offer no reprieve to consumers whom have been the biggest users of credit.

A total of 129 building plans were approved by the City of Windhoek in March. This is a slight decline in the number of plans approved on a monthly basis when compared to the 134 building plans approved in February. In value terms however, approvals increased slightly by N$4.4 million to N$82.4 million in March. 91 Buildings with a value of N$100.5 million were completed during March. The year-to-date value of approved building plans currently stands at N$429.7 million, 9.4% higher than the corresponding period in 2017. On a twelve-month cumulative basis, 1,916 building plans building plans were approved, an increase of 10.1% y/y, worth approximately N$2.23 billion, an increase of 21.4% in value terms over the prior 12-month period.

Additions to properties made up 106 approvals out of the total 129 approved building plans recorded in March. Year-to-date 343 additions to properties have been approved with a value of N$324 million, rising 46.5% y/y in value terms.

New residential units were the second largest contributor to the number of building plans approved with 60 units approved year-to-date, 14 less than the corresponding period in 2017. In monetary terms, N$80.8 million worth of residential plans were approved year-to-date, 37.3% lower than the first quarter of 2017.

The number of new commercial units approved in 2018 amounted to 13, valued at N$24.9 million. This compares to 9 units valued at N$42.7 million approved over the same period in 2017. On average over the last 20 years, 14.8 commercial units valued at N$83.0 million were approved in the first quarter of the year (this value is not inflation adjusted).

From a 12-month cumulative perspective, 1,916 building plans have been approved by March, an increase of 10.8% when compared to the corresponding period in 2017. This increase is positive news as it signals an increase in private sector construction activity. The Bank of Namibia announced last week that the MPC has decided to keep the repo rate unchanged at 6.75%, thus not following the South African Reserve Bank’s decision to cut rates by 25 basis points. The domestic economy continues to languish and monetary easing was expected as a measure to stimulate the economy. A decrease in the level of international reserves determined the MPC decision at the end of the day. This decision means that consumers and businesses are not provided with slight cost of debt relief and that it is not more attractive for businesses to acquire the debt finance needed to expand and invest in capital projects.