The real estate sector might be growing in the number of deals, but not in the size of the deals; construction might be growing in both aspects at the same time
SANTO DOMINGO. – Commerce once again led the growth of the Dominican business sector in the second quarter of 2026, with 31.8% of the total number of formal businesses, while construction and real estate activitiesadvanced in the number of businesses at almost the same pace: 7.3% and 6.2% participation, respectively, both with an identical gain of 0.2 percentage points compared to the previous year.
This coincidence hides a gap that the Business Directory of the National Statistics Office (ONE), published on September 9, allows us to see when employment and remuneration are cross-referenced.
Same number of companies, different hiring pace
While the number of companies in both sectors grows in virtually identical ways, employment tells a different story.
The construction sector added 5,340 jobs between the second quarter of 2025 and the same period in 2026, going from an average of 88,333 to 93,673 employees, a year-on-year growth of 6.05%.
Real estate activities, on the other hand, barely added 1,165 jobs, from 49,725 to 50,890, equivalent to 2.34%, less than half the rate of construction.
The difference contradicts the most common assumption about both sectors: that they move in parallel due to their proximity in the housing production chain.
The data from the second quarter suggests that, while the number of companies is growing at the same rate, the type of company being added in each sector is not generating the same amount of employment.
Wages confirm the gap
According to the ONE document, the monthly salary per employee in construction went from RD$37,581.7 to RD$40,745.1, an increase of 8.4%, while in real estate it went from RD$32,358.5 to RD$34,693.5, for an increase of 7.2%.
The difference is smaller than in employment, but it points in the same direction: construction is growing faster in all indicators that measure real activity, not just formal presence.
Looking at average compensation per company, which does not weight by size and treats each company equally, the gap remains: 6.9% in construction versus 5.9% in real estate.
What type of company is growing?
One hypothesis, which this bulletin alone cannot confirm, is that the growth in the number of real estate companies is driven by smaller units (brokerage agencies, property managers, individual intermediaries) that employ few, while in construction, business growth coincides with projects that do demand a large volume of labor.
The public document of the Business Directory does not cross-reference company size with economic activity.
The contrast also fits with the Central Bank report cited by El Inmobiliario at the end of August, which placed construction among the sectors with the greatest impact on economic growth during the first half of 2026, with an 8.1% year-on-year increase to July.
The behavior of real activity supports what the Business Directory now shows on the employment side.
The gender composition of employment deepens the contrast between the two sectors. In construction, 75.5% of jobs are held by men, while in real estate, the male proportion drops to 62.8%, with 37.2% female participation—the highest between the two sectors. This reveals that the sector generating the most jobs is also the most unequal for women.
The document raises some doubts, including the territorial one: the bulletin does not cross-reference provinces with economic activity, so it is not possible to know if the growth of construction or real estate is concentrated in Santo Domingo and Santiago or if there are new centers.
The second is company size: there is also no disaggregation by employee range within each sector, the variable that would allow testing the hypothesis stated above, and a third doubt is about renewal of the business fabric: the accumulated data reported by the ONE already discountes companies with twelve months without reporting activity, but does not distinguish how many new companies entered versus how many left in the period.
The data in this report comes from the Quarterly Business Directory Bulletin, second quarter 2026, published by the National Statistics Office (ONE) on September 9, 2026, comparing April-June 2026 with the same period in 2025.
The employment figures correspond to the quarterly average reported by the ONE, a different calculation basis than the December closing stock used in the fourth quarter 2025 bulletin, so they are not directly comparable without that adjustment.
Comparative table
| Indicator | Construction | Real estate activities |
| Share in total companies, Q2 2025 | 7.1% | 6.0% |
| Share in total companies, Q2 2026 | 7.3% | 6.2% |
| Variation in participation | +0.2 pp | +0.2 pp |
| Employees, Q2 2025 (quarterly average) | 88,333 | 49,725 |
| Employees, Q2 2026 (quarterly average) | 93,673 | 50,890 |
| Year-on-year employment growth | 6.05% | 2.34% |
| Average monthly salary per employee, Q2 2025 | RD$37,581.7 | RD$32,358.5 |
| Average monthly salary per employee, Q2 2026 | RD$40,745.1 | RD$34,693.5 |
| Year-on-year salary growth | 8.4% | 7.2% |
| Average remuneration per company (unweighted), growth | +6.9% | +5.9% |
| Male participation in employment | 75.5% | 62.8% |
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