The value of Vancouver’s housing permits declined 3.6 % in December to $327.5 million, this on the heels of two previous monthly declines.
The numbers, released this morning by Statistics Canada, represent a 44.5% year-over- year drop in the city’s construction intentions.
Kelowna’s December total permit value rose by 42.3% month over month to $33.6 million and Abbotsford-Mission’s numbers rose by nearly 200% to $57.1 million. In Victoria, total permit value dropped by 36.0% monthly to $78.4 million.
Provincially, B.C.’s construction intentions declined for the second straight month, with total permit value dropping by 5.7% month over month and 30.6% year over year to $613.7 million. This figure includes a 2.4% rise, month over month, in the value of residential permits and a 17.1% decline for the same period in non-residential permits.
Nationally, the total value of building permits crept up by 2.4% to $5.66 billion in December, relative to the previous month, following two consecutive monthly declines. Statistics Canada attributed that gain to higher construction intentions for multi-family dwellings in Ontario. Manitoba and Saskatchewan also saw gains, due to higher construction intentions in the residential sector in Manitoba and to more permits across residential, non-residential and institutional sectors in Saskatchewan. Quebec suffered the biggest decline. Like B.C., Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador recorded their second consecutive monthly decline.