In 2020, Satakunta's one-billion-euro construction market employed an average of 7 people. The drop from a year ago was quite moderate considering the exceptional circumstances: employment in the sector in the region only decreased by just under 850 people. Renovation construction in particular kept builders afloat, but the pace of new construction did not slow down at least last year either, as various house construction works were started almost a third more than the previous year.
The regional cyclical review of house construction shows that operators in the construction industry are moderately satisfied with the recent past and also look with hope to the future. Projects started before the corona crisis and construction sites remaining open kept the construction of Satakunta at a decent pace throughout the corona year. Both builders, designers and contractors expect the amount of their work to increase further during the spring and summer compared to the winter season. Expectations are mainly based on the growth of renovation construction, because based on the development of permits, new construction would seem to slow down.
In the Satakunta region, the fair drop in housing construction was balanced by other house construction, where the number of starts increased by 42 percent. Construction projects in agriculture are the ones with a clear profit in the growth of start-ups. In industrial and warehouse construction, there was an increase of 29 percent, and in commercial and office construction three percent. It was worse for public service construction, as the number of starts in the sector decreased by almost a third. However, several large public projects have started or are still starting this year. With them, the statistical curves will look completely different in a few months.
"Satakunta is quite small as a province, so individual large construction projects can cause big jumps and dips in the business cycle readings. However, the going on the market has actually been more even", states the Regional Manager of the Real Finland and Satakunta Building Construction Industry Markku Leppälehto.
According to preliminary data, the construction of 374 apartments started in Satakunta last year. The number is 42 percent lower than a year ago. The number of new building permits was also in the same figures. The forecasted huge increases in small house construction are not yet visible in last year's statistics; the starts of single-family houses decreased by eight percent. As many as 70 percent fewer residential apartment buildings were started, and the permits granted to them also decreased almost as much. The prices of old apartment buildings fell by 3,7 percent in Pori last year.
"Even though Satakunta has suffered from population loss in recent years, the game is still not lost. Satakunta is a strong industrial province, and the new openings for new technologies will improve the situation even more. Even if the actors of the province would start blowing coal in order to get the traction and holding power of the province in order. Things don't fix themselves, actions are needed", sums up Markku Leppälehto when publishing the last business cycle review of his working career.
See also:
- Satakunta economic cycle review, spring 2021
- The presentation materials of Satakunta's suhannevulkisti
For more information:
- Regional manager Markku Leppälehto
markku.leppalehto@rakennusteollisuus.fi / 040 745 3930 - Chief Economist Jouni Vihmo
jouni.vihmo@rakennusteollisuus.fi / 050 520 1636