By: Staff writer
The value of building plans approved by the City of Windhoek between April and May this year decreased by 30.4%, analysis from IJG Namibia has shown.
While there was a 25.2% increase in the total amount of buildings approved in the capital, month-on-month, from 131 in April to 164 in May, the value dropped from N$173.4 million in April to N$121.0 million the following month.
The asset management firm maintain that while May’s building plan approvals data was one of the better months so far this year, overall planned activity remains weak.
In May, five new commercial and industrial units worth N$1.92 million were approved by the municipality. This has brought the year’s monthly average approvals to about five units worth N$20.2 million.
This is up from N$13.6 million approved on average each month last year, but still well below the monthly average seen just before the pandemic, when N$45.9 million worth of units were approved on average each month in the three years leading up to the pandemic.
In total, 22 new commercial and industrial units valued at N$100.7 million have been approved this year, an increase of 137.0% y/y in value terms.
“This increase is however mostly due to the relatively large N$76.7 million approval amount registered last month. On a rolling 12-month cumulative basis, 67 commercial and industrial units valued at N$221.1 million have been approved at the end of May, compared to 33 units worth N$162.8 million over the same period a year ago. Two commercial and industrial units worth N$62.0 million were completed in May,” the firm said.
For the year thus far, 725 building plans worth N$491.5 million have been approved, down 20.5% in number terms and 22.9% year-on-year (y/y) less in value terms compared to the same period in 2022.
Over the last 12 months, 2,280 buildings worth N$1.61 billion were approved in the City. This is a contraction of 3.2% y/y in number and 10.0% y/y in value terms. Meanwhile, 37 building plans worth N$82.9 million were completed during May, while in the same month, 13 additions worth N$5.32 million were completed during May, which falls below the average monthly additions completed so far this year.
“May saw 128 additions to properties approved worth N$63.6 million. This figure represents the highest monthly value of approvals witnessed thus far in 2023. Year-to-date, 540 additions to properties worth N$210.8 million have been approved, representing an 8.8% drop in number terms and a 37.9% contraction in value terms compared to the corresponding period in 2022.
“Over the last 12 months, analysis shows that 1,623 additions worth N$758.3 million were approved in Windhoek, compared to 1,550 additions worth N$783.2 million in the 12 months before that.
“A total of 31 new residential units valued at N$55.3 million were approved in May, exceeding the average monthly count of newly approved residential properties thus far this year. Moreover, May witnessed the highest residential approval value since November 2022. The 12-month cumulative new residential unit approval figure remained steady at 589, following 10 consecutive months of contraction,” IJG researchers observed.
