The housing construction industry in Canada has received more good news with the latest figures showing another surge in residential construction activity on the back of a boom in condominium construction on Ontario and strong growth in British Columbia and Alberta.
In constant dollar terms, the overall value of residential construction investment throughout the country surged by 3.71 per cent in August – the third consecutive monthly increase – according to data from Statistics Canada.
Year-over-year, housing construction activity in August was up 9.1 per cent compared to August, 2011 in constant dollar terms. According to year-over-year monthly comparisons, the strongest markets are in Alberta (up 22.7 per cent), Saskatchewan (up 19.4 per cent), Ontario (up 12.8 per cent) and British Columbia (up 12.7 per cent). Meanwhile, decreases were experienced in Nunavut (down 49.7 per cent), the Northwest Territories (down 31.8 per cent), the Yukon (down 12.8 per cent), New Brunswick (down 12.7 per cent), Nova Scotia (down 12.72 per cent) Newfoundland and Labrador (down 11.3 per cent), Quebec (down six per cent), Prince Edward Island (down 5.6 per cent) and Manitoba (down 5.6 per cent).
Overall, in current dollar value terms, the amount of investment in residential construction throughout Canada in August came in at $4.269 billion.
Activity in housing construction across the country has been strong on the back of a boom in the popularity of condominiums, especially in Ontario.
Though there are fears that the boom may fade following the tightening of mortgage finance rules in July, continued strong readings in building permit data indicate that for new building work continues to come in at a strong pace for the time being.
Over the longer term, however, with only moderate growth prospects for the overall economy (the IMF forecasts growth of 1.9 per cent in 2012 and two per cent in 2013), analysts and commentators are doubtful that current growth rates in the sector will be sustained. Nonetheless, the Canadian residential construction industry remains in much better shape than its counterparts elsewhere in the developed world.
