The value of building permits issued in B.C. shot up 31.7% from June to July owing to more interest in the construction of residential units, according to Statistics Canada.
The September 8 data revealed $1.1 billion in building permits were issued in July compared with the $840 million a month prior.
Meanwhile, Vancouver, Toronto and Hamilton were the main drivers behind the nation’s 11.9% jump in building permit values.
“The increase in Vancouver came mainly from multi-family dwellings,” Statistics Canada said in its report.
Municipalities in the Vancouver census metropolitan area (CMA) issued permits worth $717.6 million in July — a 46.1% jump compared with June, when $491 million in permits were issued.
The value of building permits in the Victoria CMA went up 23.7%, rising from $42.5 million in June to $52.5 million in July.
The only B.C. CMA to see a decline was Kelowna, where the value of permits dropped from $35.4 million to $31.4 million month-to-month.
A big jump in intents to construct residential units drove most of the interest in B.C.
The value of residential permits went up 44.8%, rising from $519.6 million in June to $752.5 million in July.
Growth in non-residential units wasn’t nearly as robust — jumping 10.5% from $320.7 million to $354.5 million between those months.
