07 July 2010

Building permits continue downward slide

The value of building permits in Newfoundland and Labrador fell from $114 million in March to $65 million in May, according to figures released on Tuesday by Statistics Canada.  The value of building permits fell in seven of 10 provinces.

Residential building permits fell from $103 million to $50 million in the same time period.  Non-residential permits went from $11 million in March to $23 million in April before falling back to $14 million in May.

In the St. John’s census metropolitan region, permit value fell from $66 million to $44 million in the same time period. The permit value fell in 18 of the 34 census regions reported by Statistics Canada.

Note the relative change in St. John’s compared to the province as a whole.  St. John’s went from being 57.8% of total permits in March to 67% in May.  Things are evidently not as good outside the census metropolitan area as they are inside it.

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