The City of Windhoek approved 2,682 building plans in 2021, a 6.3% increase compared to 2,524 in 2020, while a total of 1,729 projects were completed, a marginal 0.5% increase compared to 1,720 in 2020.
This comes as a total of 105 new building plans with a total value of N$121.9 million were approved out of 200 received during December 2021. This was however a bit lower compared to 130 new plans that were approved in December 2020 according to building statistics released by City of Windhoek (CoW).
The latest figures show that 67 building projects valued at N$317.3 million were completed in December 2021, a 28.8% increase compared to 52 in December 2020.
Of the 67 projects, commercial projects were valued at N$275 million, housing at N$38.7 million and additions at N$3.6 million.
Building statistics released by Swakopmund Municipality also show that 690 plans were approved last year, a 38% increase compared to 500 in 2020.
However, in December a total of 96 building plans with a value of N$55.8 million were approved, compared to 54 valued at N$34.4 million approved during the previous corresponding period.
45 building projects valued at N$42.7 million were completed in December, compared to 28 projects valued at N$16.3 million completed in December 2020.
The Swakopmund projects included 18 new residential projects valued at N$10.8 million, 7 residential additions and alterations worth N$2.8 million and 3 new flats valued at N$2.7 million.
During 2021, 442 building projects were completed in Swakopmund , compared to 392 in 2020.
According to Simonis Storm, rising interest rates, expected to increase by 125bps in 2022, will add further pressure on mortgage loan growth in 2022, especially for households who still have salary cuts or who face low job security.
“We do also expect a continued declining trend in mortgage loan growth amongst corporates, as certain companies capitalise on remote working and demand less office space. In our Economic Outlook 2022 Report, 55% of respondents in our survey said they will implement a hybrid working arrangement and 6% said they will continue with a remote working arrangement. All this could weigh on the construction sector in 2022.”
“Using the building statistics from Windhoek and Swakopmund as a proxy for the construction sector in Namibia, we do not believe 2021’s GDP figures will materially have improved from 2020’s levels. Annual mortgage growth has been far below long run averages, with household mortgages growing a net 6% on average and corporates growing at a net 1% on average in the last 3 years, compared to a net 13% and 26% respectively between 2005 and 2017.”
