Building plans passed up 8.3%: Stats SA

The real value of building plans completed increased by 5.2% q/q saa in the second quarter.

The 0.6% annual increase in the real value of buildings reported as passed in June was due to a 45.3% year on year (y/y) surge in non-residential buildings‚ while residential buildings showed a 19.4% y/y fall and the y/y change for additions and alterations was a marginal 0.2% decrease.

The 19.3% y/y fall in the real value of buildings plans completed in June was due to a 33.3% y/y decline in non-residential buildings‚ while residential buildings showed an 11.4% y/y decrease. Additions and alterations fell by 18.9% y/y.

Lumpy non-residential building plans such as shopping centres tend to lead to a volatile monthly series‚ so it is better to look at the seasonally adjusted annualised q/q series.

The building plan data is supported by the cement sales volumes data released by the Cement and Concrete Institute (C&CI). These showed that cement sales soared by 22.0% y/y in January‚ but this slowed to a 7.4% y/y gain in February.

The Competition Commission in April changed its stance on the data release and the C&CI is now only allowed to report a quarterly figure at least 90 days after the end of the quarter. It is also only able to report a national figure‚ not the regional or product detail. That means that the second quarter cement sales data will only be available near the start of October.

The detail would allow economists to see better how much of the cement sales are going into the new power stations‚ mines‚ dams and residential buildings in rural areas‚ none of which is reported by Stats SA when they release the building plan data for larger municipalities.

"We will engage the Competition Commission on why the data may not be published‚" Treasury Director Lungisa Fuzile said on April 13 in response to a question from I-Net Bridge/BusinessLIVE.