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September 02, 2021BUILDING PERMITS, JULY 2021 With July reference month results, year-over-year (July 2021 vs July 2020) and year-to-date (Jan-July 21 vs Jan-July 20) are beginning to show the rebounds in economic activity from the unprecedented declines observed at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Month over month (seasonally adjusted, Jul 2021 vs. Jun 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) decreased 14.6% to $161.2 million. Halifax permits decreased 35.4% to $72.4 million. Outside the city, permit values increased 15.8% to $88.8 million. National permits decreased 3.9% to $9.90 billion. Building permit values were down in 8 of 10 provinces, led by Prince Edward Island and Alberta. British Columbia and Newfoundland and Labrador were the only provinces to report a gain.
Nova Scotia's residential building permits decreased 28.2% to $109.7 million. Halifax residential permits decreased 45.7% to $50.8 million. Outside the city, residential permit values decreased 0.4% to $59.0 million. National residential building permit values decreased 3.1% to $6.97 billion. Residential permit values were down in 7 of 10 provinces, led by Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan. British Columbia and NewBrunswick reported the largest gains.
Nova Scotia's non-residential building permits increased 43.0% to $51.5 million. Halifax permits increased 16.9% to $21.6 million. Outside the city, non-residential permit values increased 70.6% to $29.9 million. National non-residential building permit values decreased 5.6% to $2.93 billion. Non-residential permit values were down in 7 of 10 provinces, led by Prince Edward Island and Alberta. Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia reported the largest gains.
Year-to-date (Jan-Jul 2021 vs. Jan-Jul 2020)
Nova Scotia's total building permits (residential and non-residential) increased 15.5% to $1,084.2 million. Halifax permits decreased 7.4% to $508.9 million. Outside the city, permit values increased 47.8% to $575.3 million. National permits increased 30.6% to $72.34 billion. Building permit values were up in 9 of 10 provinces, led by Prince Edward Island and Quebec. Newfoundland and Labrador was the only province to report a decline.
Nova Scotia's residential building permits increased 28.7% to $854.2 million. Halifax residential permits increased 4.2% to $420.3 million. Outside the city, residential permit values increased 66.5% to $433.9 million. National residential building permit values increased 41.1% to $50.67 billion. Residential permit values were up in all provinces, led by Quebec and Prince Edward Island. British Columbia reported the smallest gain.
Nova Scotia's non-residential building permits decreased 16.4% to $230.0 million. Halifax permits decreased 39.5% to $88.6 million. Outside the city, non-residential permit values increased 9.8% to $141.4 million. National non-residential building permit values increased 11.4% to $21.67 billion. Non-residential permit values were up in 6 of 10 provinces, led by Prince Edward Island and Quebec. Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia reported the largest declines.
Overall building permit values in Nova Scotia increased from January-July 2020 to January-July 2021. This reflects an increase in residential permits across the province, partially offset by declines in non-residential permits in Halifax.
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 was a notable acceleration in building permit values towards the end of 2020, particularly in residential projects across the province. There has been a downward trend in residential and non-residential building permit values in Halifax 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 and declined 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. Halifax non-residential building permits have been declining in recent months. Commercial projects generally account for the bulk of non-residential building permit values. 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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