Ramallah: Building licenses up in Q2

The total number of building licenses issued in the second quarter of 2012 in the Palestinian Territory reached 2,190, registering an increase by 0.8% compared to first quarter of 2011, a press release by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) said on Monday. The number of building licenses issued for the second quarter of 2012 was 8.7% higher than in the second quarter of 2011, added PCBS. The area of licensed buildings (residential and non-residential) totaled 870,100 square meters, of which new buildings made up 720,800 square meters and existing buildings 149,300 square meters. The press release said the total number of licensed dwellings was 3,649, of which 3,006 were new units with a total area of 518,600 square meters and 643 were existing dwellings with a total area of 106,300 square meters. The number of new dwellings in the second quarter of 2012 decreased by 9.4% compared to the first quarter of 2012 and was 1.1% higher than the second quarter of 2011.