City building permits rise sharply in August: StatsCan
Edmonton Journal
Wednesday, October 07, 2009
The value of building permits in Edmonton rose 21.3 per cent in August over July, Statistics Canada said Tuesday.
While Alberta's capital saw construction intentions reach $358 million, Calgary saw a 7.3-per-cent monthly drop to$246.5 million.
The province as a whole saw a 3.2-per-cent increase in the value of building permits. But there was a sharp divide within the construction industry, as residential construction intentions rose by 27.4 per cent to $542.6 million while non-residential permits fell 26.6 per cent to $253.5 million. Non-residential includes commercial, industrial and institutional buildings.
"With the recent strength in Alberta housing markets, the outlook for construction in the province is looking increasingly mixed," said ATB Financial economist Dan Sumner. "Residential contractors seem to be steadily gearing back up for more work ahead, while plans for new commercial projects are getting harder to come across."
Building permits for both single and multi-family residential housing climbed in August, reversing a decline in multi-family permits.
But August's level of non-residential permit issuance hit its lowest level in Alberta since January 2006, Sumner said. "This was probably attributable to weakness in the commercial subcategory, considering industrial permit issuance rose."
Nationally, the value of building permits rose more than expected in August, Statistics Canada said. Values rose 7.2 per cent during the month from July, to $5 billion.
© The Edmonton Journal 2009
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