Building projects completed in 2010 shrink for first time in 11 yrs

SEOUL, Aug. 29 (Yonhap) -- Building projects completed by South Korean construction firms in 2010 declined for the first time in 11 years as demand remained low amid a prolonged housing market slump, a report showed Monday.
   According to the report by Statistics Korea, South Korean builders completed construction projects worth 214.53 trillion won (US$199.2 billion) last year, down 1.1 percent from the previous year. This marked the first on-year shrinkage since 1999.
   They completed about 184 trillion won worth of construction projects here in Korea, down 1.6 percent from a year earlier. Overseas construction totaled 30.53 trillion won, up 1.4 percent from 2009.
   The decline comes amid a prolonged slump in the nation's real estate market. In particular, the public sector construction dropped 6.8 percent on-year to 5.65 trillion won, the report showed.
   The number of construction firms, meanwhile, stood at 74,382 at the end of last year, up 1.2 percent from a year earlier, according to the report. But the growth pace slowed for the third consecutive year since 2008, it noted.
   kokobj@yna.co.kr
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