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October 04, 2021BUILDING PERMITS, AUGUST 2021 With August reference month results, year-over-year (August 2021 vs August 2020) and year-to-date (Jan-Aug 21 vs Jan-Aug 20) are showing the rebounds in economic activity from the unprecedented declines observed at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Month over month (seasonally adjusted, Aug 2021 vs. Jul 2021)
Changes in monthly building permit values are volatile, with large swings from one month to the next. Nova Scotia's total building permits (residential and non-residential) increased 2.1% to $165.5 million. Halifax permits increased 13.2% to $81.7 million. Outside the city, permit values decreased 6.8% to $83.8 million. National permits decreased 2.1% to $9.66 billion. Building permit values were up in 7 of 10 provinces, led by Prince Edward Island and Manitoba. The largest decline was observed in New Brunswick.
Nova Scotia's residential building permits increased 11.7% to $122.4 million. Halifax residential permits increased 24.7% to $62.7 million. Outside the city, residential permit values increased 0.7% to $59.7 million. National residential building permit values decreased 8.3% to $6.36 billion. Residential permit values were down in 5 of 10 provinces, led by Ontario, British Columbia and New Brunswick. The largest increases were reported in Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador.
Nova Scotia's non-residential building permits decreased 17.8% to $43.0 million. Halifax permits decreased 13.1% to $19.0 million. Outside the city, non-residential permit values decreased 21.2% to $24.1 million. National non-residential building permit values increased 12.3% to $3.30 billion. Non-residential permit values were up in 5 of 10 provinces, led by Prince Edward Island and Alberta. The largest declines were reported in New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador.
Year-to-date (Jan-Aug 2021 vs. Jan-Aug 2020)
Nova Scotia's total building permits (residential and non-residential) increased 16.2% to $1,251.3 million. Halifax permits decreased 4.2% to $589.2 million. Outside the city, permit values increased 43.2% to $662.1 million. National permits increased 28.8% to $81.98 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 27.7% to $976.1 million. Halifax residential permits increased 5.0% to $480.8 million. Outside the city, residential permit values increased 61.7% to $495.4 million. National residential building permit values increased 36.5% to $56.96 billion. Residential permit values were up in all provinces, led by Quebec and Alberta. Newfoundland and Labrador reported the smallest gain.
Nova Scotia's non-residential building permits decreased 12.0% to $275.2 million. Halifax permits decreased 30.8% to $108.4 million. Outside the city, non-residential permit values increased 6.9% to $166.7 million. National non-residential building permit values increased 14.1% to $25.02 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-Aug 2020 to January-Aug 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. 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 outside of 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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