The value* of residential building permits issued in Alberta decreased for the second month in a row in June, falling 6% to $930 million—the lowest level since September 2023.

The pullback in June was entirely due to a drop in multi-family projects which were down by 17% compared to an improvement of 5% for single-family projects.

Month-to-month swings in permit value are not unusual, so it helps to look at longer blocks of time.

When we do this, we find that permit value was lower in the second quarter, but still much higher than last year.

Residential permit value slipped by 6% in Q2 versus Q1 with both single-family (-5%) and multi-family (-7%) permits losing ground.

Permit value was, however, still a solid 25% higher than in Q2 of last year with single-family projects up by 22% and multi-family by 29%.

Is the cooling off in permit value compared to the start of the year a sign of a slowdown in residential construction?

In this case, no. The number of permits being issued indicates that more homes are being built, but at lower price points. Further, the latest June data on housing starts show a strong and sustained pick up over the last year.

The number of residential permits issued in Q2 was 33% higher than the same quarter last year.

*Permit values have been seasonally adjusted.

Answer to the previous trivia question: The next summer Olympics will be held in Los Angeles in 2028.

Today’s trivia question: How many Canadian provinces joined Confederation before 1900?