A total of 65 building plans were approved in Windhoek during the first quarter of this year, according to the First National Bank's Home Loan Index for the first quarter which was released earlier this month.
The approved plans have a total value of more than N$134 million.

Of the 65 building plans approved 10 were commercial buildings with a value of N$35 million. The others were residential properties. The first quarter also recorded a relatively high amount of buildings constructed with a total value of N$102 million.
Renovations and alterations approved during the same quarter totalled to 418 building plans for residential, industrial and commercial buildings. Together they carry a total value of N$165 million.
“Additions and alterations to buildings continue to dominate the housing market, a situation that could be explained to the surging house values and the affordability that seems to be more difficult to attain,” said the report.
The quarterly report recorded an increase of 4.7%, in the Windhoek overall index, for the period of between the last quarter of 2006 and the first quarter of 2007. The increase is from 118.72 to 124.25.
Contributors to the increase are the relocation of business offices from the central district to suburbs such as the Windhoek Central which recorded an increase of 14.7% in property value.
“The proximity to town for people residing in Windhoek Central makes the area an ideal location for office space for business. The business rights granted to most of the suburbs in this area is the reason that the prices there have been surging,” said the report.
The Brakwater area remain to show irregular trends in the property value due to the fact that the plots have not yet been fully developed.
“There are still plots in Brakwater that are either not developed or half developed. However, with the recent allocations of small holdings in Brakwater by the Windhoek Municipality, the area will most likely stabilise in terms of fully developed erven of equal sizes. The other infrastructural developments such as electricity and road network are not yet fully in place and thus the instability,” said the report.
The report is compiled by First National Bank Namibia and is based on Windhoek. It follows last year's National Housing Index report that covered the major towns and cities countrywide for the entire period of 2006.