New housing starts the year down with 30.600 building permits issued in January (-6%)

The number of building permits issued in January for housing decreased by 6% compared to the previous month, with 30.602 authorizations, according to provisional data published Tuesday, March 3, by the Ministry of Urban Affairs and Housing.

According to the Data and Statistical Studies Service (SDES), this development extends the trend observed in the second half of 2025: a level lower than that of the second quarter of 2025, but higher than that recorded in 2024. The statistics are adjusted for seasonal variations and working days.

In detail, 11.904 permits concern individual houses, representing a monthly increase of 0,7%, while 18.698 authorizations relate to collective housing, a decrease of 9,8% over a month.

Between February 2025 and January 2026, 381.486 housing units were authorized for construction. This volume remains 7,8% lower than the average of the previous five years, according to the SDES.

Regarding housing starts, 27.638 units were launched in January, representing a decrease of 1,8% compared to December.

In total, 277.230 housing units were started during the last twelve months, a level 20% lower than the average of the previous five years.

For the past three years, new construction has been going through a deep crisis, marked by rising construction costs and higher interest rates, which have slowed down many homeownership projects.

Furthermore, the discontinuation of certain support mechanisms for rental investment, including the Pinel tax mechanism in 2025, has contributed to the withdrawal of individual investors.

The ministry notes that this data remains provisional, as the data collection rate is still incomplete. Furthermore, the SDES modified its methodology at the start of the academic year and now conducts significant revisions of previous data every month.

Illustrative image of the article via Depositphotos.com.