British Columbia was one of only three provinces to see an increase in the value of residential building permits in May, according to Statistics Canada data released July 8. Residential permits in the province were up 7.4 per cent from April to $741 million.
The value of residential building permits in Vancouver totalled $485 million in May, a 2.6 per cent increase from the month before, and a 16.1 per cent year-over-year increase from May 2014. The figure still lags behind the March 2015 high of $667 million.
The story varies significantly across the province. Victoria saw declines of about 35 per cent both year over year and month over month. Abbotsford-Mission and Kelowna, however, saw substantial increases. The value of residential building permits in Abbotsford-Mission increased 142 per cent from April to May, for a 404 per cent year-over-year increase. In Kelowna, the value increased 142.5 per cent from April to May for a year-over-year increase of 141 per cent.
Nationally, declines in seven provinces brought the total value of residential permits down to $3.9 billion, a 13.5 per cent decrease from the month before and a 3.7 per cent decrease year over year. That follows three straight months of national increases.
To read the full Statistics Canada report and interactive charts, click here.
