The value of building permits in the Calgary and Edmonton regions headed in opposite directions in August, according to Statistics Canada.
The federal agency reported on Wednesday that permit values of $462.7 million in the Calgary census metropolitan area represented an increase of 17.8 per cent from July and up 7.7 per cent year over year.
However in the Edmonton census metropolitan area, it was a different story. Total building permit values of $362.6 million were down 5.6 per cent on a month-over-over month basis and down 25.8 per cent year over year.
Across the province, permit values of 1.1 billion rose by 1.9 per cent on a monthly basis but were down 10 per cent on an annual basis.
Residential permit values in Alberta were up 5.3 per cent from the previous month to $587.2 million. However, on an annual basis it dropped by 24.4 per cent. Non-residential permit values of $485.7 million fell by 1.8 per cent from July but were up 16.7 per cent year over year.
Across Canada, total building permit values were $8.1 billion in August – down 0.4 per cent from July but up 4.3 per cent from August 2017.
Residential values decreased by 4.4 per cent on a monthly basis to $4.9 billion and it were down 1.2 per cent from a year ago.
Non-residential value of $3.2 billion were up 8.8 per cent month over month and by 14.2 per cent year over year.
Mario Toneguzzi is a veteran Calgary-based journalist who worked for 35 years for the Calgary Herald, including 12 years as a senior business writer.
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