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64-001-XIE Building permits October 2002 |
Highlights
Signs of a slowdown on construction sites cannot be foreseen on the horizon, as the value of construction intentions, measured by building permits, equalled the July 2002 record- high in October. The value of building permits totalled $4.0 billion in October, up 6.9% from September. The high construction intentions in the residential sector were mainly behind this peak. Municipalities issued $2.6 billion in residential permits in October, a 4.8% gain from September. This tremendous level was largely the result of a record high in the construction intentions for single-family dwellings. Overall, nearly 19,000 new dwelling units were authorised solely for the month of October. Halting two consecutive monthly declines, the value of non-residential permits totalled $1.4 billion in October, up 10.9% from the previous month. A huge gain in the institutional component was the driving force behind this advance. For the first ten months of 2002, builders took out $38.5 billion worth of permits, a 17.2% growth from the same period in 2001. The continuous upward trend in the residential sector explained this fabulous growth rate. Furthermore, from January-to-October, 180,800 new dwelling units have been authorised, which is superior to every annual total from 1990 to 2001. While the year-to-date value of residential permits was well above last year's level (+35.8%), the cumulative value of non-residential dropped 5.6%. The largest growths (in dollars) among the census metropolitan areas for the first ten months of 2002 occurred in Toronto, followed by Calgary and then Montreal. In these three centres, the high demand for new single-family dwellings contributed the most to the advances. Overall, 25 out of the 28 metropolitan areas showed an increase. Record high intentions for single-family dwellingsThe value of single-family permits reached a record $1.9 billion in October, up 5.0% from September, and a third consecutive monthly increase. This level is $63 million higher than the previous record set in January 2002. Construction intentions for multi-family dwellings were also on the upward flow (+4.1% to $705 million). The continued strength in the Canadian labour market throughout 2002 combined with low mortgage rates, rising disposable incomes and the low vacancy rates for apartments were the factors that positively affected the housing market and pushed consumers toward the new home market. Out of the ten provinces, 9 recorded gains in October in the residential sector. The largest increases occurred in Ontario (+6.5% to $1.1 billion) and in Alberta (+13.0% to $412 million). Quebec was the only province to show a retreat, halting a streak of 5 consecutive gains. All provinces, territories and metropolitan areas showed advances in cumulative residential permits in comparison with 2001. The high demand in housing, spread across the country led the overall residential sector to a tremendous 35.8% increase to $24.6 billion for the January-to-October period. Both single- (+35.6%) and multi- family (+36.3%) permits recorded sharp increases. Non-residential projects bounced backOctober's 10.9% rebound in non-residential building permits followed two straight monthly declines and was led mainly by the institutional component. Institutional intentions increased 36.0% to $529 million after two straight monthly decreases. Educational projects in the Toronto area led Ontario to the greatest increase (in dollar terms) among the provinces. In this province, the value of institutional projects more than doubled (+105.9% to $374 million) reaching a record high. After two monthly declines, the value of industrial permits increased 4.4% to $275 million due to an advance in the manufacturing category. The most significant increase in this component occurred in Quebec (+54.8% to $81 million). After reaching a high level in June, the commercial component recorded a fourth consecutive monthly decline in October (-1.4% to $644 million), which was pushed down by the trade and services and warehouse categories. Following a strong month in September, Alberta showed a 43.3% decrease to $88 million. The high level of institutional construction intentions is in concordance with the Public Administration's increased capital spending intentions published in the latest release of the Private and Public Investment in Canada. Seventeen of the 28 census metropolitan areas recorded monthly increases in the value of non-residential permits. By far, the largest increase occurred in Toronto, where intentions jumped in the educational category. In contrast, Edmonton recorded the strongest decrease due to a decline in the commercial component. Among the provinces, Ontario recorded the largest increase in the non-residential sector (+54.0% to $736 million) after three consecutive monthly declines. All three components showed gains, especially, the institutional component. After recording the largest growth last month, Alberta recorded the most significant decrease (-49.5% to $138 million) due to declines in the three non-residential components. On a year-to-date basis, municipalities issued $13.9 billion in permits for the non-residential sector, down 5.6% from the same period in 2001. Most of the decline was related to weaknesses in the commercial The largest year-to-date decline in the non-residential sector was in Quebec while the strongest gain occurred in Ontario. |
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