The City of Windhoek approved 314 building plans valued at nearly N$500 million in July 2022, compared to 249 plans worth N$400 million in the prior month.
According to Simonis Storm, the approved plans include 179 plans for new residential additions, 112 plans for new residential properties, 16 new walls, five new commercial buildings and two new pools.
The research firm noted that building completions in Windhoek continue to increase for a third consecutive month.
“During July 2022, at least 88 buildings were completed, compared to 74 completions in the prior month recording an increase of 18.9% m/m and 36 in July 2021 – a 144.4% rise y/y.
“The completed projects had a total value of N$51.7 million (compared to N$43.9 million for projects completed in June 2022) and included 46 residential additions (N$6.8 million), 32 residential properties (N$41.4 million), 1 commercial building (N$3 million) and 9 walls (N$0.5 million),” said the economic research firm.
The Swakopmund Municipality, according to the Simonis Storm report, approved 26 building plans in July, compared to 90 in the prior month, recording a 71.1% m/m drop and 37 in July 2021 for a 29.7% drop y/y.
Approved plans had a total value of N$43.1 million against N$74.1 million in June 2022 and were solely for 26 new residential plans. Building completions in Swakopmund rebounded in July, following a significant drop in June, the analysts said.
During the month, 49 buildings were completed, compared to 18 in the prior month showing an increase of 172.2% m/m and 12 in July 2021 for a rise of 308.3% y/y.
Despite more modest growth in household mortgages compared to corporate mortgages, pipeline construction activity in the residential segment of the market continues to record more momentum.
Household mortgage growth averaged 2.4% YTD, compared to 4.3% for corporates. At the same time, municipalities in Windhoek and Swakopmund approved a combined 830 residential building plans YTD with a value of N$820 million, compared to only 25 commercial building plans being approved with a value of N$65.3 million.
“Although we are excluding other crucial municipalities like Walvis Bay and Oshakati, the data seems to suggest that either we could see an increase in household mortgages to finance these building projects in the near future, or households might be financing residential construction by other means in response to rising interest rates,” said Simonis.
