Building activity is rebounding nicely in Calgary these days, with Alberta's largest city releasing figures that put new construction values up 44 per cent for the first seven months of 2011.
As of the end of July, Calgary had approved new building permits for about $2.7 billion, compared with about $1.8 billion for the same period in 2010.
Perhaps more significantly, the city's permit values for July were ahead of both the five-year average and 10-year average. The latter includes numbers from the boom years of 2006 and 2007.
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. is crediting an increase in interprovincial migration to Calgary due to rising oil prices and employment opportunities for the increased demand for new housing.
According to the city, July's building permit values of $328 million were up 15 per cent from the 10-year average of $284 million.
"The residential increase for July building permits goes across all sectors: single family, garage, two family, apartment and townhouses," noted David Watson, Calgary's general manager of planning, development and assessment.
In the non-residential categories, values were highest in the commercial sector, but there was a marked decrease in the government and institutional sectors for new construction.
July's numbers included three apartment/condo complexes worth a combined $51 million, as well as two warehouses valued at a combined $28 million.
Building in Edmonton in 2011 hasn't quite kept pace with 2010. Permit totals for the first seven months of this year in the Alberta capital hit $1.72 billion, down about 6 per cent from 2010, when Edmonton was in a rare race with Calgary for new building activity.
from Western Investor October 2011
