What is the Commercial Market doing? Building Permits - January 2010

Building permits are a bellwether of commercial activity. Here’s what they’re telling us about the Metro Vancouver area.

Lower Mainland-Southwest Region (Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley)

The Year-over-Year Numbers

Total Building Permits Total building permit values increased 148% to $362.5 million in January 2010 from $146.3 million one year ago.

Non-residential Permits increased 29% to $98.9 million from $76.9 million in January 2009.

• Institutional-government permits skyrocketed 259%.
• Commercial permits edged up 8% higher.
• Industrial permits dropped 53%.

Residential Permits increased 280% to $263.6 million compared to $69.4 million in January 2009.

Vancouver CMA - The Year-over-Year Numbers

Total Building Permits

Building permit values spiked up 154% to $324.4 million compared to $127.5 million last January.

Non-residential Permits increased 34% to $94.0 million in January.

• Institutional-government permit values soared 375%.
• Commercial permits are higher by 9%.
• Industrial permits are off 63%.

Residential Permits soared 385% to $188.6 million from $38.9 million last year.

Andrew Peck’s analysis

The large year-over-year change indicates to me that investors are returning to Metro Vancouver and we’re heading out the recession. There are significant gains in the residential sector since housing is on a strong upswing, showing triple-digit percentage increases.

The construction sector is playing a large role in our recovery. The main driver of non-residential permits in 2010 will be more government spending.

I’m positive about 2010 and 2011 and I think we’re well on our way to economic recovery.

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