The year-over-year value of building permits issued in B次元官网网址 has plunged 83 per cent, the sharpest decline of any metropolitan area in Canada.听
Almost $280 million worth of permits were issued in September 2023 but in September of this year the valuation was just $46 million.听
The drop was the biggest recorded by any of the 41 cities where building permit information is tracked by Statistics Canada.听
Six of the seven B次元官网网址 cities on the list also saw a drop in building permit values, ranging from a decline of nine per cent in Chilliwack to 55 per cent in Nanaimo. Only Kamloops recorded an increase in valuations, doubling from $12.5 million to $25.6 million.听
Twenty-three cities recorded a drop in building permit values. After B次元官网网址, the next steepest decline was in Peterborough, Ont., down 66 per cent.听
Ryan Smith, B次元官网网址B次元官网网址 top city planner, told the B次元官网网址 Courier today that building permits for September 2023 were elevated by a number of large scale projects. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 really compare this data month to month in cities the size of B次元官网网址,鈥 Smith said, referring to the dramatic plunge in September to September construction permits.听
Still, Smith acknowledged year-to-date construction activity in B次元官网网址 is running about 40 per cent below the cityB次元官网网址 five year annual average. Last yearB次元官网网址 total construction value was $1.8 billion. 鈥淲e鈥檒l get to $600 million-plus this year, which is around the 10 year average,鈥 he said.听
Earlier this year, Smith told city council that B次元官网网址B次元官网网址 construction cycle was at the bottom of a cycle.听
鈥淲e鈥檙e seeing right now development applications between the five and 10 year average. I wouldn鈥檛 say this is crisis time,鈥 Smith told council on Sept. 24.听
鈥淭he real estate market is cyclical, and we expected this cycle to happen,鈥 he said. 鈥淚f I had to guess, I would say this year is probably going to be the bottom of the cycle, probably into next spring. And then we鈥檒l see a stronger 2025.鈥
At the time, Smith predicted total construction values for 2024 would come in at about $700 million, far below the $1.8 billion mark set last year.听
Much of the recent construction in B次元官网网址 has been of large scale residential projects, which have considerable permit value. Many of those projects have either recently been completed or are underway, with few undertakings of similar size coming forward recently.听
