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March 03, 2021BUILDING PERMITS, JANUARY 2021 Month over month (seasonally adjusted, Jan 2021 vs. Dec 2020)
Changes in monthly building permit values are typically very volatile, with large swings from one month to the next. Nova Scotia's total building permits (residential and non-residential) decreased 47.2% to $132.2 million. Halifax permits decreased 63.1% to $54.8 million. Outside the city, permit values decreased 24.1% to $77.4 million. National permits increased 8.2% to $9.90 billion. Building permit values were up in 4 of 10 provinces, led by Quebec and Alberta. Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia reported the largest declines.
Nova Scotia's residential building permits decreased 36.9% to $108.3 million. Halifax residential permits decreased 64.2% to $44.7 million. Outside the city, residential permit values increased 36.1% to $63.6 million. National residential building permit values increased 10.6% to $7.07 billion. Residential permit values were up in 6 of 10 provinces, led by New Brunswick and Alberta. Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan reported the largest declines.
Nova Scotia's non-residential building permits decreased 69.6% to $23.9 million. Halifax permits decreased 56.8% to $10.1 million. Outside the city, non-residential permit values decreased 75.0% to $13.8 million. National non-residential building permit values increased 2.6% to $2.83 billion. Non-residential permit values were up in 5 of 10 provinces, led by Quebec and Prince Edward Island. Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia reported the largest declines.
Year-over-year (Jan 2021 vs. Jan 2020)
As with monthly changes in building permit values, year-over-year changes are also volatile. A more stable picture of changes in building intentions will emerge as year-to-date information becomes available in subsequent months.
Nova Scotia's total building permits (residential and non-residential) increased 0.1%. Halifax permits decreased 39.3%. Outside the city, permit values increased 85.7%. National permits increased 6.4%. Building permit values were up in 7 of 10 provinces, led by New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. Newfoundland and Labrador and British Columbia reported the largest declines.
Nova Scotia's residential building permits increased 17.2%. Halifax residential permits decreased 29.8%. Outside the city, residential permit values increased 121.4%. National residential building permit values increased 20.9%. Residential permit values were up in 9 of 10 provinces, led by New Brunswick and Manitoba. British Columbia was the only province to report a decline.
Nova Scotia's non-residential building permits decreased 39.6%. Halifax permits decreased 62.0%. Outside the city, non-residential permit values increased 6.6%. National non-residential building permit values decreased 18.1%. Non-residential permit values were down in 7 of 10 provinces, with the largest declines in Newfoundland and Labrador and Manitoba. Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick reported the largest gains.
Overall building permit values in Nova Scotia were little changed from January 2020 to January 2021. This reflects a decline in Halifax permits from single-dwelling residential projects as well as commercial buildings, offset by gains outside the city, mostly in residential dwellings (both single and multi-unit).
Trends
Nova Scotia building permit values increased in 2019, mainly due to rising residential permits in Halifax. Permit values trended down in late 2019 and the first half of 2020, but have been rising since then. There has been a notable acceleration in building permit values towards the end of the year, particularly in residential projects across the provinces as well as non-residential projects outside Halifax.
Trends in residential permit values reflect the differences in housing markets for Halifax and the rest of the province. Halifax residential permits were more concentrated in multi-unit dwellings in 2019. Over the last two years, multi-unit building permits have declined in Halifax (though they are starting to rise in the last few months) while single dwelling unit permits increased slowly. Outside Halifax, single dwelling units make up the majority of building permit values, and these have been increasing sharply since the second half of 2020 (multi-unit permits outside Halifax were also up over this period).
Non-residential building permits have lower values than residential permits. Commercial projects generally account for the bulk of non-residential building permit values. Commercial project permit values in Halifax have declined over the last half of 2020. Commercial project building permit values have been declining outside Halifax since reaching a peak in mid-2019. In recent months there has been a rise in institutional/government building permit values, particularly outside Halifax.
Source: Statistics Canada. Table 34-10-0066-01 Building permits, by type of structure and type of work (x 1,000)
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