Building permits and housing sales in London
By Mark Schadenberg
The City of London has a high unemployment rate.
That fact could be due to many reasons, ranging from the departure
of some significant industry to the idea that thousands are educated in London
and would like to stay, but can’t find employment in their field.
One of the numbers currently that contradicts both the
London economy and its growth, are building permits as they are up compared to
the first quarter of 2013.
Here’s The London Free Press story from earlier in the
week:
()()()()()()()()()
Building permits up more than $7.8
million in London
The London Free
Press
Monday,
June 3, 2013
LONDON
-- First-quarter building permits are up more than $7.8 million this year in
London, and home sales also rose last month.
But it’s
too early to celebrate just yet, with all eyes on London’s jobless rate coming
out Friday, one economist says.
The
value of building permits in London from January to April hit $221.1 million,
topping the $213.2 million over the same period last year.
The
London and St. Thomas Association of Realtors says 941 homes were sold in May,
up 3.1% over the same month last year.
That
sounds like good news in a market running the nation’s highest big-city jobless
rate, at 9.9%
But hold
off on the champagne, said Robert Kavcic, chief economist at BMO Capital
markets.
“I would
keep my powder dry if I were you, especially given how volatile building
permits are in smaller cities,” he said, noting one large project alone can
exaggerate the totals.
“We are
looking for slight job growth overall, but it is hard to make a call on one
report in a city, especially when we see softer growth (in London) than the
rest of the province.”
Statistics
Canada’s latest jobs report, and with it numbers for London, will be released
Friday.
As for
the building permits, the increase was led by apartment buildings, with 2012
permits worth $59.3 million to the end of April, compared to $4.5 million over
the same period last year.
While
home sales are up, that may be a case of pent-up demand since bad weather kept
buyers indoors early this spring, added Doug Wastell, president of the London
Home Builders Asociation and Wastell Homes owner.
“I am
not sure if it is the weather, or the market, but there has been a slow start
and we’re now seeing people who were on the fence, jumping in,” he said.
“There
have been a lot of people buying late.”
For the
year, he sees stable numbers, not a lot of growth in the building sector and
forecasts it will grow only about 1% next year.
“It may
be on the upswing now, but it will level off,” said Wastell.
First-quarter
permits for commercial buildings also rose, to $22.4 million compared to
$19.9
million last year, and industrial took a leap to $10.9 million from $1.8
million last year. Institutional work was also on the rise, to $8.6 million
from $4.1 million.
But
warning signs remain, with the value of new single detached homes — a strong
economic indicator — down to $49.2 million so far this year, compared to $80.5
million over the same period last year.
Similarly,
3,245 homes have sold in the London-St. Thomas market this year, down 5.8% from
the same period last year but an improvement over the winter when sales were
down as much as 20%.
“I think
for the most part . . . the home sales market seems to be stabilizing,” said
Kavcic.
The
average year-to-date price of a detached home in London-St. Thomas is $261,996,
up 3%, while the average price of a condo stands at $176,363, up 2.9%
The
year-to-date price for all home types stands at $246,545, up 3.2%.
- - -
BY THE
NUMBERS
London
building permits, January to April:
2013: $221.1 million
2012: $213.2 million
Average
housing price, all types, London-St. Thomas:
2013: $246,545, up 3.2%
Mark
Schadenberg
Sales
Representative
Royal
LePage Triland Realty
(519) 537-1553,
cell or text
No comments:
Post a Comment