Building activity down 24.7% in Jan-Oct

Private building activity fell 22 pct in October 2010, for a decline of 24.7 pct in the January-October period, the Hellenic Statistical Authority announced on Monday.

In a report, the statistics service said the volume of private building activity in the country totaled 3,951 new permits in October 2010, down 16.1 pct compared with the corresponding period in 2009, while volume was down 22 pct. Only three regions recorded an increase in building volume: the Ionian Islands (41.4 pct); Eastern Macedonia-Thrace (37.4 pct) and Western Macedonia (4.5 pct), while Thessaly (44.9 pct), Central Macedonia (40.8 pct), Crete (35.8 pct), Western Greece (34.3 pct) and Central Greece (32 pct) recorded the biggest percentage declines.

Building activity was down 11.3 pct in permits and 24.7 pct in volume in the 10-month period from January to October. Building activity fell throughout the country, with Attica (34.1 pct), Central Greece (29.7 pct), Western Greece (27.1 pct), Crete (25.4 pct) and Epirus (24.2 pct) recording the biggest percentage declines of the year.