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September 07, 2023BUILDING PERMITS, JULY 2023 Monthly (seasonally adjusted, Jul 2023 vs. Jun 2023)
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 28.9% to $270.5 million. Halifax permits increased 39.1% to $174.0 million. Outside the city, permit values increased 13.9% to $96.4 million. National permits decreased 1.5% to $11.66 billion. Building permit values were down in 6 of 10 provinces, led by British Columbia and Prince Edward Island. Manitoba reported the largest gain.
Nova Scotia's residential building permits increased 50.2% to $208.6 million. Halifax residential permits increased 67.1% to $135.5 million. Outside the city, residential permit values increased 26.4% to $73.1 million. National residential building permit values increased 5.4% to $7.40 billion. Residential permit values were up in 6 of 10 provinces, led by Manitoba. British Columbia reported the largest decline.
Nova Scotia's non-residential building permits declined 12.7% to $61.9 million. Halifax permits decreased 12.5% to $38.5 million. Outside the city, non-residential permit values decreased 13.1% to $23.4 million. National non-residential building permit values decreased 11.5% to $4.26 billion. Non-residential permit values were down in 7 of 10 provinces, led by Prince Edward Island. New Brunswick reported the largest gain.
Year-to-date (January-July 2023 vs January-July 2022)
Nova Scotia's total building permits (residential and non-residential) decreased 0.8%. Halifax permits decreased 9.3%. Outside the city, permit values increased 12.8%. National permits decreased 5.7%. Building permit values were down in 8 of 10 provinces, led by Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador. Manitoba reported the largest gain.
Nova Scotia's residential building permits decreased 16.9%. Halifax residential permits decreased 29.1%. Outside the city, residential permit values increased 2.1%. National residential building permit values decreased 13.0%. Residential permit values were down in all provinces, led by Newfoundland and Labrador. Manitoba and Ontario reported the smallest declines.
Nova Scotia's non-residential building permits increased 67.5%. Halifax permits increased 72.0%. Outside the city, non-residential permit values increased 59.8%. National non-residential building permit values increased 8.6%. Non-residential permit values were up in 7 of 10 provinces, led by Manitoba. Prince Edward Island reported the largest decline.
Overall building permit values in Nova Scotia edged down in the first seven months of 2023 compared with January-July 2022. This reflects a decrease in both single and multiple unit residential permits in Halifax. There was a smaller increase in both single and multiple unit permits outside Halifax. Non-residential permit values were up year-to-date in all non-residential permit types across the province.
Trends
Overall building permit values have been on a rising trend since the middle of 2021, mostly driven by the rise in residential permit values (within Halifax as well as outside the city).
After rising sharply since 2020, residential permit values started to trend down near the end of 2022. Even so, residential permit values both in Halifax and outside the city are above pre-pandemic levels at the end of 2022 and in the first half of 2023.
After growing at the end of 2021, Nova Scotia's non-residential building permit values had trended down from the beginning of 2022 to the start of 2023 before trending up in recent months. Non-residential permit values have trended up in recent months in Halifax with an upward trend since the middle of 2022 in the rest of the province.
Trends in residential permit values reflect the differences in housing markets for Halifax and the rest of the province. In Halifax, growth in permit values for multi-unit dwellings has outpaced growth in single-dwelling unit permits. Outside the city the situation is reversed, with stronger growth in single dwelling unit permit values than in multi-unit structures.
Non-residential building permits have lower values than residential permits. After rising in late 2021, Halifax values for industrial building permits have declined and are only recovering slowly. In recent months, Halifax commercial and institutional/government building permits are trending up. Outside the city, permits are trending up since the end of 2022, particularly for commercial projects.
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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