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December 07, 2023BUILDING PERMITS, OCTOBER 2023 Monthly (seasonally adjusted, Oct 2023 vs. Sep 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) decreased 28.0% to $207.9 million. Halifax permits decreased 22.1% to $149.1 million. Outside the city, permit values decreased 39.5% to $58.9 million. National permits rose 2.3% to $11.24 billion. Building permit values were up in 3 of 10 provinces, led by Alberta. Newfoundland and Labrador reported the largest decline.
Nova Scotia's residential building permits decreased 20.8% to $155.9 million. Halifax residential permits decreased 15.5% to $108.5 million. Outside the city, residential permit values decreased 30.8% to $47.5 million. National residential building permit values increased 0.6% to $7.11 billion. Residential permit values were up in 3 of 10 provinces, led by Alberta. Newfoundland and Labrador reported the largest decline.
Nova Scotia's non-residential building permits decreased 43.3% to $52.0 million. Halifax permits decreased 35.6% to $40.6 million. Outside the city, non-residential permit values decreased 60.2% to $11.4 million. National non-residential building permit values increased 5.3% to $4.12 billion. Non-residential permit values were up in 6 of 10 provinces, led by Alberta and New Brunswick. Nova Scotia reported the largest decline.
Year-to-date (January-October 2023 vs January-October 2022)
Nova Scotia's total building permits (residential and non-residential) increased 2.7% in the first ten months of the year. Halifax permits decreased 3.9% and outside the city permit values increased 14.5%. National permits decreased 2.2%. Building permit values were down in 6 of 10 provinces, led by Newfoundland and Labrador. Saskatchewan reported the largest gain.
In January-October 2023, Nova Scotia's residential building permits decreased 12.5%. Halifax residential permits decreased 22.1% and outside the city residential permit values increased 4.3%. National residential building permit values decreased 9.8%. Residential permit values were down in all provinces except Saskatchewan, led by Newfoundland and Labrador.
Nova Scotia's non-residential building permits increased 64.7%, year-to-date. Halifax permits increased 68.2% and outside the city non-residential permit values increased 58.0%. National non-residential building permit values increased 12.6%. Non-residential permit values were up in 7 of 10 provinces, led by Nova Scotia. Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island and British Columbia reported the declines.
Overall building permit values in Nova Scotia increased in the first ten months of 2023 compared with January-October 2022. There was a decrease in both single and multiple unit residential permits in 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 ten months 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 had declined and are rising again in recent months. Halifax commercial building permits have been trending down and institutional/government building permits are trending up in recent months. Outside the city, permits were trending up since the end of 2022 and reached to their peak in recent months, 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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