The number of permits for the construction of residential buildings issued in Bulgaria in the second quarter of 2016 increased by 6.7% year-on-year, reaching 1,216, the country’s statistical office NSI announced on Wednesday.

Those permits covered with 4,438 dwellings (an increase of 28.5% over the second quarter of 2015) with combined gross building area of 604,825 sq. m. (a year-on-year increase of 17.9%).

The number of permits for the construction of new office buildings and other types of buildings issued by the municipal authorities decreased in the second quarter compared to 2015, the NSI said.

The authorities issued permits for the construction of 37 administrative buildings in the second quarter of 2016, down 15.9% year-on-year, while the gross building area increased by 38.9%, reaching 22, 798 sq. m.

The issued permits for the construction of other buildings decreased by 10.2% on the year in the second quarter and their gross building area dropped by 42.1% compared to the second quarter of last year.

Sofia City led the list of Bulgarian regions with the highest number of permits for the construction of new residential buildings issued in the second quarter of 2016, 186. Plovdiv Region followed with  160, ahead of  Varna Region with 123.

There were 836 housing starts with 2,961 dwellings and 418 895 sq. m of gross building area in the second quarter of 2016. As compared to the second quarter of 2015 housing starts decreased by 1.3%, the number of dwellings dropped by 18.4% and the gross building area - by 9.9%.