SANTO DOMINGO– Between January and July 2026, the Ministry of Housing, Habitat and Buildings (MIVHED) issued 1,122 building permits, compared to 605 during the same period in 2025, representing an 85% increase. In just seven months, the institution has already surpassed the 953 permits issued during all of last year, according to data released by the agency.
The agency indicated that it reached a record level of management in July with the issuance of 201 construction licenses nationwide.
Minister Víctor Ito Bisonó stated that the results demonstrate the strengthening of institutional capacity and the modernization process of permitting promoted by the ministry, focused on a more traceable, standardized, transparent and user-oriented management.
"These results reflect an institution with a greater capacity to manage and respond, always maintaining the technical rigor that each project requires. We are moving towards a more traceable, standardized, and transparent permitting process, which will generate greater certainty for those who build and invest in the Dominican Republic," the official stated.
Increase in emissions
The MIVHED stated that another indicator that demonstrates the evolution of management is the monthly average of licenses issued.
In 2021, the year the agency was created, the average number of licenses issued was 85 per month. This figure rose to 107 in 2022; 93 in 2023; 102 in 2024; and 79 in 2025. In the first seven months of 2026, the average reached 160 licenses per month, the highest level in the entire period analyzed, according to the state agency.
It highlights that during July, Santo Domingo led the issuances with 103 licenses, followed by Santiago with 43, Punta Cana with 41 and San Francisco de Macorís with 14. Of the national total, 173 corresponded to definitive licenses and 28 to conditional licenses.
More than RD$406 billion in viable investment
The Ministry of Housing document underlines that the increase in licenses has made possible, between January and July 2026, the sum of RD$406,715 million in total investment, compared to RD$150,163 million registered during the same period in 2025.
According to the agency, this figure represents a 171% year-over-year increase in investment associated with licensed projects. In July alone, the 201 licenses issued correspond to over RD$76.524 billion in investment and an estimated 56,684direct jobs.
Bisonó assured that the MIVHED will continue to deepen the actions of modernizing the permitting process, strengthening traceability, institutional capacity and coordination of processes, as part of an agenda aimed at generating better conditions for the orderly development of the construction sector.
Recommended readings:
