Residential new builds drive Kazakh construction market

Construction in Kazakhstan increased +4.6% in real terms last year to US$ 12.4 billion according to economic forecasting company PMR. The company said this was driven by new build work rather tahn repair & maintenace.

The share of new construction as a proportion of total output rose from 82.3% in 2012 to 85.1% last year,according to the company, which added this proportion was likely to hit 86% in 2015.

Last year, Kazakh private companies accounted for 84.4% of all construction output in the country, and were followed by foreign entities, which accounted for 14.9%. State-owned enterprises accounted for an insignificant 0.7% of total output. During the first half of 2015, the breakdown changed notably. Private Kazakh firms were responsible for 77.3% of national construction output between January and June whereas foreign companies saw their market share up to 22.1%.

According to PMR, in recent years the most dynamic construction activity has been in the residential sector. The total floor area of residential properties activated in Kazakhstan in 2014 came to 7.5 million m², which is +9.8% more than that of 2013. This was the highest residential completion rate for more than two decades. The rise in residential building has beem driven by the greater availability of mortages.