Vancouver bucks national building trend

Vancouver is bucking the national trend in new building projects, according to the latest figures from Statistics Canada.

"We just keep chugging along," said Greater Vancouver Home Builders' Association [GVHBA] chief executive Peter Simpson in an interview on Tuesday. "Every month we're surprised with the strength, because it was supposed to tail off moderately. Instead, it just keeps increasing."

According to the Statistics Canada survey released Tuesday, the value of all building permits across the country slipped marginally in June, and would have been much sharper without a burst of industrial projects in Alberta.

Municipalities issued permits worth $5.3 billion for the month, down 1.4 per cent from May, as the value of construction intentions in both the residential and non-residential sectors declined.

Even so, the value of permits surpassed the $5-billion mark for the seventh consecutive month.

According to the survey, the total value of all construction -- residential and non-residential -- rose 17.8 per cent in Vancouver to $605 million, but was down 4.9 per cent for all of B.C. to $922 million.

Although the value of non-residential permits declined 26 per cent in B.C. to $281 million and 0.4 per cent in Vancouver to $172 million, the value of residential permits rose 8.8 per cent in the province as a whole to $641 million, and 27 per cent in Vancouver to $433 million.

For the year to date, the value of residential permits is up 16 per cent in Vancouver and 3.6 per cent in the non-residential sector.

"Alberta is doing the best," said Bechir Oueriemmi of Statistics Canada's investment and capital stock division, in an interview. "And Vancouver is bucking the trend. For the rest of the country, non-residential is doing well, with residential down. And compared to B.C., Vancouver is doing well."

Simpson said that the Lower Mainland is on track to come close to 1989, the best year for residential construction when 22,000 homes were built.

"This year, our forecast was 18,500, a slight drop," he said. "Instead, it was revised to 21,000. We think this will make it the best year since 1989."

Simpson said that talk of a housing bubble bursting doesn't hold true for Vancouver. "This is happening in some U.S. jurisdictions. They didn't have the same economic indicators we have -- a good economy, steady job growth and fairly stable interest rates. If it stops, it will be a soft landing.

"Currently, demand is outstripping supply."

Meanwhile, the Vancouver Regional Construction Association said that the survey shows the industry is strong in the Lower Mainland and that residential permit values in Vancouver are at the highest level in June since 2004.

(prepared by Brian Morton/Vancouver Sun)