‘Construction sector makes weak start to second quarter’

ISTANBUL

The construction sector has gotten off to a weak start in the second quarter of 2024, a report by the Turkish Ready Mixed Concrete Association (THBB) has shown.

The ready mixed concrete, activity and confidence indices declined in April compared with the same month of last year, while there was a slight increase in the expectations, said the association.

The declines in the three major indices suggest that decline in construction activity is likely to continue in the coming months, according to the report.

The ready mixed concrete index was down 0.5 percent year-on-year, while the decline in the confidence index was 0.9 percent. The activity index fell 0.8 percent in April from a year ago, but the expectation index inched up 0.1 percent annually.

Recent moves by authorities aimed at reducing domestic demand will also have an adverse impact on the housing sector, commented Yavuz Işık, the president of THBB.

“Although the negative expectations for the post-election period have disappeared, the problems experienced in terms of interest rates and banks’ willingness to lend, especially housing loans, will discourage companies from launching new projects,” said Işık.

Home sales plunged nearly 12 percent in April from a year ago to around 76,000 units with mortgaged home sales diving 68 percent. The annual decline in home sales was 0.1 percent in March.

In the first four months of 2024, 355,000 homes were sold, marking a 3.7 percent year-on-year drop. The year-on-year decline in mortgaged home sales was 57 percent to some 35,000 in January-April.