Local monthly home building beats 2023 for first time

By Collin Gallant on November 26, 2024.

Single-family home construction surpassed its 2023 pace last month for the first time in 2024.

Building permits for eight new homes in October brings the year-to-date total to 27 – three more than one year earlier after a slow year in the sector.

Duplex and apartment spending have raced ahead of last year’s figures, but with complaints about affordability and high interest rates, new detached home permits had lagged.

New figures through 10 months state the estimated budget for new home construction permitted this year is worth $10.3 million, about $150,000 less than at this point in 2023, when 24 permits had been issued.

Four new duplex permits also pushed that category higher last month. A total of 18 duplexes in 2024, worth $6 million cumulatively, compared to eight, worth $1.3 million through October 2023.

One new apartment permit would add three units to 97 created in the calendar year over eight projects. The $14.8-million budget estimate for multi-family spending is up from $1.1 million in 2023.

The other notable item from the October permits report is a flurry of 18 commercial renovation permits, totalling $2.2 million, in the month.

So far, 111 such permits worth $13.3 million, is on par with last year.

New commercial construction, worth $3.1 million, is about one-third the 2023 figure.

Overall, 571 permits across all categories are attached to estimated construction value of $59.5 million.

The same time frame in 2023 saw 561 permits worth $77.9 million, the difference being $20.5 million in new institutional construction.