The number of permits issued for residential buildings fell by 3.6 per cent in the second quarter of this year.
Permits for single units rose by 41.7 per cent while those for apartments dropped by 8.3 per cent.
The figures were part of a routine report issued by the National Statistics Office which found hours worked in the construction industry fell by 12.6 per cent when compared to the same quarter last year. This was in line with a 10 per cent drop in construction employment, pushing the value of wages and salaries down by 4.8 per cent.
Employment in civil engineering also went down, by 1.8 per cent.