New high-density residential developments, like this Sun City Development construction project on Second Street near the gate of Lions' Park in the River Flats, are leading building permit statistics in Medicine Hat at July 31.--News Photo Collin Gallant
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New apartment and condo construction is pacing the Medicine Hat development market through the first seven months of 2024, statistics reveal.
At July 31, the city’s planning and development office had processed seven permits for substantial residential projects that cumulatively represent 96 new units.
The estimated budget for all sits at $13.9 million, more than the value of all similar projects let in 2022 and 2023 combined.
Over those years, 69 units were added at an estimated value of $12.5 million, with most coming two years ago.
The figure bolstered new residential construction statistics that showed strength in other multi-family classes but stubborn sluggishness among the single-family market.
To date in 2024, 15 detached homes were permitted, valued at $5.5 million in construction value. That’s up slightly from the first half of 2023, when 11 new homes were valued at $4.6 million.
A total of 29 new homes through all of 2023 was down from 38 in the previous year.
New duplexes however, number nine ($3.4 million) so far this year, compared to four by late July 2023 and just six all last year.
Tri- and four-plex permits count only one – there were none in all of 2023 and 16 in 2022.
Other residential permits were slightly lower while new garage permits were up by half to 26. There were no new commercial, industrial or institutional permits issued in July.
Overall for the first seven months, 367 permits have been approved for a total of $41.3 million in estimated value. That is down from 363 worth $54.6 million in the same period in 2023, which included $20 million in institutional spending.
