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May 04, 2021BUILDING PERMITS, MARCH 2021 Month over month (seasonally adjusted, Mar 2021 vs. Feb 2021)
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) increased 15.2% to $152.1 million. Halifax permits increased 78.7% to $75.0 million. Outside the city, permit values decreased 14.4% to $77.0 million. National permits increased 5.7% to $10.90 billion. Building permit values were up in 7 of 10 provinces, led by Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick. Saskatchewan and British Columbia reported the largest declines.
Nova Scotia's residential building permits increased 43.7% to $132.1 million. Halifax residential permits increased 119.3% to $71.4 million. Outside the city, residential permit values increased 2.2% to $60.7 million. National residential building permit values increased 15.9% to $8.07 billion. Residential permit values were up in 8 of 10 provinces, led by Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick. Saskatchewan and British Columbia reported the largest declines.
Nova Scotia's non-residential building permits decreased 50.1% to $20.0 million. Halifax permits decreased 61.5% to $3.6 million. Outside the city, non-residential permit values decreased 46.6% to $16.3 million. National non-residential building permit values decreased 15.6% to $2.84 billion. Non-residential permit values were up in 3 of 10 provinces, led by Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick. Nova Scotia and British Columbia reported the largest declines.
Year-to-date (Jan-Mar 2021 vs. Jan-Mar 2020)
Nova Scotia's total building permits (residential and non-residential) decreased 5.1% to $415.6 million. Halifax permits decreased 37.7% to $171.6 million. Outside the city, permit values increased 50.2% to $244.0 million. National permits increased 25.5% to $31.24 billion. Building permit values were up in 7 of 10 provinces, led by Prince Edward Island and Quebec. Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia reported the largest declines.
Nova Scotia's residential building permits increased 12.0% to $330.6 million. Halifax residential permits decreased 20.1% to $150.7 million. Outside the city, residential permit values increased 68.8% to $179.9 million. National residential building permit values increased 40.5% to $22.15 billion. Residential permit values were up in all 10 provinces, led by Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick. Nova Scotia reported the smallest gain.
Nova Scotia's non-residential building permits decreased 40.5% to $85.0 million. Halifax permits decreased 76.0% to $20.9 million. Outside the city, non-residential permit values increased 14.8% to $64.1 million. National non-residential building permit values decreased 0.5% to $9.09 billion. Non-residential permit values were down in 6 of 10 provinces, with the largest declines in Newfoundland and Labrador and Saskatchewan. Prince Edward Island and Quebec reported the largest gains.
Overall building permit values in Nova Scotia were little changed from January-March 2020 to January-March 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. There has been a downward trend in non-residential building permit values in recent months.
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 had declined in Halifax and rose in last months of 2020 while single dwelling unit permits increased slowly. Halifax non-residential building permits have been declining in recent months. 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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