Domestic orders of Korean builders plunged 17 percent in February from a year earlier due to a prolonged slump in the local property market and a drop in orders from the public sector, a trade association said Monday.
The local builders’ domestic orders came to 5.09 trillion won ($4.69 billion) in February, compared with 6.15 trillion won tallied a year earlier, the Construction Association of Korea said in a statement.
The February orders were also down 17.3 percent from the figure recorded in February in 2009, it said.
The CAK attributed the decrease to a severe slump in the local housing market, which started at the onset of the 2008 financial crisis, and a decrease in construction demand from the public sector.
New orders from the private sector gained 3.4 percent on-year to 3.19 trillion won in February. In the public sector, new orders declined 38 percent to 1.9 trillion won over the cited period.
“The slump in the local property market, coupled with a decline in orders from the public sector, is expected to continue for the time being as the housing market remains in the doldrums and a small portion of the public construction budget is forecast to be spent,” a CAK official said. (Yonhap News)