According to the Majorca College of Quantity Surveyors, building was started on 1,958 homes last year, an increase of almost ten per cent over 2017. Of these, 1,005 were apartments: 18.4% more than in 2017.
For the first time in five years, apartment building was outstripping houses. The president of the college, Daniel Tur, said yesterday that in no small part this was because of demand for affordable housing. It also represented greater confidence on behalf of developers and the general health of the construction industry.
Of the 1,005 apartments, 759 were in Palma. In Calvia there were 66 and in Marratxi 35. As for houses, Calvia had the most - 101 - followed by Campos (64), Santanyi (53) and Palma (51).
In the hotel sector, there was a fall in construction. Work was started on five new hotels, two fewer than in 2017. Renovation and redevelopment work was down slightly. There were 148 projects.
In this regard, Tur criticised the slowness of local authorities' procedures. Some projects, he observed, can be delayed by up to eighteen months. "It is something that concerns us," he concluded.