Victoria is lagging behind the rest of the province when it comes to the value of new building permits.
According to Statistics Canada, the value of building permits in the Victoria Census Metropolitan Area dropped by almost 13 per cent between December 2019 and January, down to $98.8 million from $114.2 million. Compared to January 2019, values dropped by 3.7 per cent this year.
Both Vancouver and Kelowna saw increases of 47.5 per cent and 3.1 per cent respectively in January, compared to January 2019. The value of building permits dropped 30.2 in the Abbotsford–Mission.
A broader look confirmed the impact of Vancouver on the value of building permits in British Columbia and Canada.
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While the value of all building permits rose by four per cent ($9 billion) in January, compared to the previous month, British Columbia accounted for just under a quarter of the increase ($2 billion). Just under 38 per cent of that increase came from Vancouver, which recently raised development cost charges.
Looking at different sectors, the residential sector reported strong gains, with the value of permits for single-family homes rising seven per cent and multi-family dwellings 17 per cent. On the non-residential side, the value of permits rose in the industrial category (up 6.8 per cent), while dropping on the institutional side (down 30.5 per cent).
Commercial construction stagnated.
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