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November 08, 2023BUILDING PERMITS, SEPTEMBER 2023 Monthly (seasonally adjusted, Sep 2023 vs. Aug 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 13.5% to $288.6 million. Halifax permits increased 20.1% to $186.8 million. Outside the city, permit values increased 3.0% to $101.8 million. National permits declined 6.5% to $11.19 billion. Building permit values were down in 5 of 10 provinces, led by New Brunswick. Newfoundland and Labrador reported the largest gain.
Nova Scotia's residential building permits increased 10.3% to $198.9 million. Halifax residential permits increased 21.8% to $128.0 million. Outside the city, residential permit values decreased 5.8% to $70.9 million. National residential building permit values increased 4.3% to $7.17 billion. Residential permit values were up in 5 of 10 provinces, led by British Columbia. New Brunswick reported the largest decline.
Nova Scotia's non-residential building permits increased 21.3% to $89.7 million. Halifax permits increased 16.6% to $58.8 million. Outside the city, non-residential permit values increased 31.2% to $30.9 million. National non-residential building permit values decreased 21.0% to $4.02 billion. Non-residential permit values were down in 7 of 10 provinces, led by British Columbia and New Brunswick. Prince Edward Island reported the largest gain.
Year-to-date (January-September 2023 vs January-September 2022)
Nova Scotia's total building permits (residential and non-residential) increased 2.2% in the first nine months of the year. Halifax permits decreased 6.5% and outside the city permit values increased 17.6%. National permits decreased 3.7%. Building permit values were down in 6 of 10 provinces, led by Newfoundland and Labrador. Saskatchewan reported the largest gain.
In January-September 2023, Nova Scotia's residential building permits decreased 14.9%. Halifax residential permits decreased 26.6% and outside the city residential permit values increased 6.0%. National residential building permit values decreased 12.0%. Residential permit values were down in all provinces, led by Newfoundland and Labrador. Manitoba and Saskatchewan reported the smallest declines.
Nova Scotia's non-residential building permits increased 76.9%, year-to-date. Halifax permits increased 81.8% and outside the city non-residential permit values increased 68.2%. National non-residential building permit values increased 12.5%. Non-residential permit values were up in 8 of 10 provinces, led by Nova Scotia. Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island reported the only declines.
Overall building permit values in Nova Scotia increased in the first nine months of 2023 compared with January-September 2022. There was a decrease in both single and multiple unit residential permits in Halifax, which more than offset the increase in single and multiple unit permits outside of 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. Halifax commercial building permits have been trending up and institutional/government building permits are trending down in recent months. 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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