THE value of homes approved for construction outside Cambodia’s capital over the first nine months increased by less than 1 percent over the same period of last year.

The Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction gave the green light to 1,184 residences worth US$221 million in the first nine months of 2010, a 0.77 percent increase on the 1,102 residences worth $219 million approved during the same period last year.

The world economic crisis hit Cambodia’s construction sector hard, but the slight increase in the value of home approvals was a sign the industry may be recovering, said Lao Tip Seiha, director at the ministry’s department of construction.

“It’s a positive sign there’s been a slight increase in residential home approvals, even though the economic downturn still affects the construction sector,” he said Sunday. Although the number of small residences was on the rise, nearly 70 percent fewer large construction projects were approved in the first nine months of 2010, compared to 2009, he said. A report from Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction showed 1,718 large projects worth $508 million were approved in the first nine months.