Builders favouring multi-family housing projects in 2022

By COLLIN GALLANT on July 29, 2022.

cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant

Builders are favouring multi-family housing projects in 2022 while new figures show commercial construction is driving building permit figures above last year’s levels.

Statistics released by the city planning department at the six-month mark of the year state that, to June 30, a total of 21 single-family home projects had been permitted, down eight from the same point in 2021.

Meanwhile, four times as many apartment-style units had been created year over year, while tri-plex and four-plex projects showed an increase as well.

Total new residential spending sat at 15 per cent above last year levels, but mostly due to new condo or apartment block construction.

June saw a 16-unit permit worth $2.6 million proceed, bringing the number of units to date to 39 with a combined value of $64 million.

That’s compared to 21 detached home projects estimated to cost a total of $7.75 million, about $3.5 million less than last year.

The other large difference in the year-to-year comparison is $8 million worth of new commercial construction over three projects. That number was nil in 2021.

Home renovation and garage permits were also lower for the month, and in the case of major renos, about 40 per cent lower for the year.

In total for the year, 344 permits have an estimated construction budget of $47.16 million in 2022. That is compared to 471 permits and $42.44 million at June 30, 2021.

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