Submitted. Drop in non-residential permits offset by residential surge. Building permit values in Abbotsford shot up 131 per cent in April 2013 from March 2013, led by a soaring jump of 486 per cent in residential permits, according to Vancouver Regional Construction Association’s analysis of Statistics Canada Building Permit Report.
Seasonally adjusted total building permit values in Abbotsford climbed in April 2013 to $24.6 million from $10.7 million in March 2013.
“Abbotsford saw a second month of increases in permit values in April, mostly on the strength of residential permit values,” says Jan Robinson, interim president of the Vancouver Regional Construction Association (VRCA). “Commercial and industrial permits also increased, but no public permits were issued in April, and government permits will likely see a decline for the year since no major project is currently waiting in the wings.”
Seasonally adjusted non-residential permit values dropped 37 per cent to $4.6 million from $7.3 million in March. Commercial permits edged up four per cent to $3 million in April, industrial permits jumped 66 per cent to $1.6 million, while no institutional-government permits were issued in April. The seasonally adjusted value of residential permits climbed to $20 million in April 2013 from March’s $3.4 million.
VRCA’s outlook for 2013 for Abbotsford is mixed but slightly positive, with total permits likely to remain below the past ten-year average.
Regional Building Permit Highlights
Seasonally adjusted total building permit values in the Abbotsford CMA rose 131 per cent to $24.6 million in April 2013 compared to $10.7 million in March.
- Non-residential permits dropped 37 per cent to $4.6 million from $7.3 million.
- Residential permits jumped 486 per cent to $20 million from $3.4 million.
- Total building permit values in Abbotsford were down four per cent in the first four months of 2013 to $56.2 million compared to $58.6 million in the same period last year.
- Non-residential permits were down 29 per cent.
- Residential permits were up 17 per cent.
- Total building permit values rose 55 per cent in the Lower Mainland-Southwest region to $694.4 million in April 2013 from $447.8 million in March 2013.
With close to 700 members, VRCA is British Columbia’s largest and most inclusive regional construction association, representing union and non-union, general and trade contracting companies, manufacturers, suppliers and other professionals throughout the Lower Mainland from Hope to Whistler.