SANTO DOMINGO– In response to the surge in real estate development in the northern region, Santiago de los Caballeros, known as the "Heart City," will have its own building registry starting this year. The National Statistics Office (ONE) announced that it will establish the Building Supply Registry (ROE) in Santiago de los Caballeros, given the importance of the Cibao region to the construction sector.
This is the first time the entity will conduct the survey in that area, expanding its coverage which until now has measured the Metropolitan Region of Greater Santo Domingo.
The ONE highlights that Santiago represents one of the main development hubs of the country due to its economic, urban and construction importance, as part of the territorial expansion process of this study on the construction sector.
More than 200 neighborhoods will be included in the sample
The information from the one specifies that the incorporation of Santiago will allow information to be gathered in 218 neighborhoods of the urban area, with the purpose of knowing the current situation of construction activity and the supply of buildings in this area.
The survey is scheduled to take place from October 26 to November 23, 2026, following a preparatory process that included a pilot test and the reconnaissance of the coverage areas.
Organizations involved
The survey will be conducted with the support of the Ministry of Finance and Economy, in coordination with the Dominican Association of Housing Builders and Promoters (Acoprovi), within the framework of joint efforts to improve the availability of strategic data on the country's construction dynamics.
During the launch, the Director General of the National Statistics Office (ONE), Mildred Martínez, emphasized that, since its inception in Greater Santo Domingo, the ROE (Report of Economic Activity) has proven to be a valuable tool for analyzing the construction sector. “We came to Santiago with a clear objective: to generate statistical data that contributes to more informed planning and better decision-making. Our work is not for auditing or evaluation purposes,” the official stated, highlighting the importance of having reliable data to support the province's development.
For his part, Martín Francos, Vice Minister of Planning and Public Investment at the Ministry of Finance and Economy, stated that having this information helps to more effectively guide government interventions in infrastructure, land-use planning, and the provision of public services, among other areas. He also highlighted the importance of Santiago's inclusion in the ROE (Register of Construction Projects), whose construction activity requires technical and statistical monitoring to better understand its evolution and support its growth with more informed decisions.
The president of Acoprovi, Annerys Meléndez, valued the arrival of the ROE in Santiago as a transcendental advance for the statistical production of the country, the result of several years of work and the need to expand the measurement of the sector beyond Greater Santo Domingo to other important centers of development.
He emphasized that this expansion will provide information that better reflects the dynamics of the sector and contributes to the decision-making of economic agents. He also highlighted the importance of the public sector, the private sector, and academia working together toward common goals that contribute to the country's development.
Understanding the dynamics of construction
During the presentation, it was explained that the ROE is a semi-annual statistical operation that collects information on construction and the supply of buildings. Its objective is to determine the magnitude of this activity and understand its situation within the areas defined for the study.
The information generated by the ROE supports public policies, urban planning, the identification of demand for basic services and up-to-date knowledge of the construction sector, providing data for decision-making in both the public and private sectors.
As part of its statistical design, the ROE studies all the works that are in some stage of the construction and/or bidding process at the time of the survey.
For the collection of information, the following are considered suitable informants: the project manager, resident architect or engineer, construction foreman, construction company, real estate company or sales manager, and the owner of the project.
More than 100 meters
Also included in the study are buildings starting at 100 square meters, extensions of 100 square meters, and renovations of 500 square meters.
During the launch, the ONE highlighted the importance of institutional coordination for the development of the operation and invited local authorities, universities, institutions linked to security and mobility, as well as private unions and associations, to support the process from their respective areas of action.
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