COLOMBIA REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION SECTOR 2018-19

Construction is the sixth-largest economic sector in Colombia, accounting for 6.8% of the country’s GDP, 3% of total FDI inflow and 6.3% of formal employment in 2017.

EXPLORE THE STATISTICS BELOW

SECTOR SNAPSHOT

In 2017, the GVA of the construction sector amounted to COP 63.3tn, down by 2% y/y, the first decrease since 2010.

In 2017, sales of new housing units declined by 8.2% y/y to 177,374 units. Most affected were homes in the mid- and high-end price segments, with decreases in sales of 10.3% and 19.5% y/y, respectively.

COP 63,298bn

Construction Sector GVA

1.44mn

Number of Employees

According to CAMACOL estimates from April 2018, the residential real estate market will return to growth in 2018.

an expansion in new housing unit sales by 3.7% y/y
government allocated a COP 1.2tn budget for interest rate subsidies for 2018, expected to benefit 77,670 households.
uptick in the economy, decreasing borrowing costs and moderation of the growth in housing unit prices will support buying decisions.

In 2018, Colombia ranked 64th in the Global Real Estate Transparency Index of the US consultancy JLL, which assessed the country’s real estate market as having low transparency.
However, since its 2016 ranking, the country has climbed 22 positions, becoming one of the world’s top two improvers over this period, along with Myanmar, as a result of regulatory improvements, measures to promote the development of the REIT market, and greater publicly available data.

Foreign Direct Investment

Over the years 2012-2017, the construction sector attracted a total of USD 3.1bn in foreign direct investment (FDI), or 3.6% of total FDI in the country for the period. Since 2014, there has been a significant increase in foreign investor interest in the sector, mainly due to ambitious infrastructure plans launched by the government, namely the Fourth Generation Road Concessions Programme (4G), the Roads for Equity Programme and the Intermodal Transport Master Plan (PMTI).

CEMENT & CONCRETE PRODUCTION

The decrease in construction activity in 2017 also affected Colombia’s cement and concrete industries.

Concrete Production by Department, thou m3, 2017

In 2017, the production of grey cement and concrete dropped for a second consecutive year, by 1.5% and 10.6% y/y, respectively.

Concrete Production by End User

2016