Spain: Housing permits continue to grow at brisk pace in January
The Spanish Board of Architects (Colegio de Arquitectos Técnicos) granted 6,694 new construction permits in January, according to data published by the Ministry of Public Works (Ministerio de Fomento). The figure was above both the 6,234 permits approved in January of the previous year and the 6,096 permits approved in December. On an annual basis, permits rose 7.4% in January, which was well below the 24.5% surge recorded in December.
The moving three-month sum of permits totaled 19,396 in January, which represented a 13.6% increase from the same period last year. The figure followed the 24.0% expansion recorded in December. However, the current number of permits represents a mere fraction of the 268,266 permits that were granted during the July–September 2006 peak.