<p>Housing construction rose by 5.5% in the first quarter</p>

Prague - In the Czech Republic, construction of 9,117 apartments began in the first three months of this year, which is 5.5 percent more than in the same period last year. A total of 6,929 apartments were completed, an increase of 7.4 percent compared to the 1st quarter of 2005. There were 157,390 apartments under construction, a year-on-year increase of 5.7 percent. This was announced today by the Czech Statistical Office.
According to the Czech Statistical Office, the growth in apartment construction was primarily influenced by favorable conditions in the mortgage market, the higher value of building savings loans, support for young couples, and planned changes in VAT for residential construction starting in January 2008.
In the long term, the most apartments are being built around large cities, mainly Prague and the Central Bohemian Region. The fewest apartments started construction last year in the Karlovy Vary and Liberec Regions.
The most completed apartments were in the Central Bohemian Region and Prague, while the fewest were completed in the Karlovy Vary, Liberec, and Zlin Regions.