At the beginning of the year, housing construction slowed down, the number of approvals and building permits issued decreased

Housing construction has been stagnated, with the lowest comple-tion of dwelling construction in the last 8 quarters and started dwell-ings in the last 24 quarters. Currently, by 10% fewer dwellings and houses were completed than a year ago, but it was still more than be-fore the pandemic²⁾. Year-on-year construction progress also decreased.

The situation in the number of completed dwellings¹⁾ in the first quarter of 2024 deteriorated year-on-year, only 4 118 dwellings were approved in Slovakia, at least since the first quarter of 2022. Year-on-year, the number of completed dwellings decreased by 10%, but was still slightly higher than in average during the first quarters of the five pre-pandemic years²⁾. The majority share, up to 63%, consisted of dwellings in family houses.

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The situation in individual regions was very volatile. A total of 5 out of 8 SR regions recorded a decrease compared to last year. The most significant year-on-year decline in approvals for dwellings and apartments by more than 30% was in Banskobystrický and Prešovský kraj, and by more than 10% in the Trnavský and Trenčiansky kraj. Only 2 regions Nitriansky and Žilinský kraj recorded a slight year-on-year increase in the number of completed apartments.

In the most significant Bratislavský kraj, which has long held a quarter share in housing construction in Slovakia, the year-on-year decrease was very slight (by 1.8%). However, the current number of the completed dwellings in this region was less than a fifth below the numbers of the pre-Covid period²⁾.

However, most regions achieved more favourable numbers than in the pre-Covid period²⁾. A higher number of completed dwellings was recorded in 5 out of 8 SR regions. Up to half the number of dwellings were completed in Trenčiansky and Žilinský kraj, and by a quarter in Nitriansky kraj. On the contrary, Banskobystrický kraj recorded a drop of almost by a third.

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Started dwellings in the 1st quarter of 2024

At the same time, during the first quarter of 2024, the trend of slowing down of the start of new dwellings continued³⁾. In total, only 3 850 dwellings were under construction, which was the least since Q1 2018 (compared to all quarters). The number of building permits issued for the construction of dwellings was lower by a quarter than a year ago and by almost 9% behind the five-year pre-pandemic average²⁾. Of the total number of dwellings started, family houses slightly predominated, with a share of 54%.

The started dwellings had a very turbulent year-on-year development. The number of dwellings started in 5 out of SR 8 regions decreased year-on-year, while at the same time it rose more dynamically in 3 regions. The development ranged from a decrease by almost 70% in Bratislavský kraj to an increase by 76% in Žilinský kraj. Similarly, there was a high fluctuation also compared with the pre-pandemic period²⁾. While Bratislavský kraj registered a drop by 43%, Žilinský kraj recorded an increase by 75%.

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At the same time, by the end of March 2024, more than 79 000 dwellings were under construction in Slovakia, which was only slightly less than a year ago and at the same time by 12% more than in the pre-pandemic years⁴⁾. The number of dwellings and houses under construction rose year-on-year only in Žilinský and Prešovský kraj, and it decreased in the other 6 regions. Compared to the pre-pandemic average⁴⁾, construction was higher in up to 6 regions and lower in only two, Bratislavský and Košický kraj.