Brian Morton
Sun
Non-residential construction in Vancouver saw the biggest price drops in Canada over the 12 months to the end of June, the Conference Board of Canada reported Thursday.
But the industry’s decline in B.C. has started to slow, and the last year’s poor results can be attributed in part to the completion of several major projects either before or during the recession, a Conference Board official said.
“The price decline in Vancouver has been the largest of any of the metro areas across the country,” Michael Burt, the Conference Board’s associate director of industrial economic trends, said in an interview.
“There are strong indicators that demand has weakened more in Vancouver than other markets,” Burt said.
“However, the rate of decline is slowing in Vancouver and in fact, for the second quarter (April, May and June) was below [the national] average.”
Vancouver recorded a 1.2-per-cent decline in prices in the quarter compared to 1.9 per cent for the country. Burt said B.C.’s non-residential construction peaked in mid-2007.
Year-over-year, prices declined about 14 per cent in Vancouver over the 12 months, more than twice the national average, according to the board’s outlook report on the industry.
“You [Vancouver] are moving in the right direction,” Burt said of the latest quarterly numbers. “The rate of decline is slowing. And there were big projects that drew to a close regardless of the recession.”
Keith Sashaw, president of the Vancouver Regional Construction Association, which deals mainly with non-residential construction, agreed that the industry has had a rough year.
But he too said things are looking up.
“Building permit activity [for Metro Vancouver] for the first seven months of 2009 compared to 2008 show about a 50-per-cent decline in building permit values,” Sashaw said in an interview.
“But we’ve seen the winding up of several major projects before or through the recession, including the Canada Line, the … convention centre, and the Golden Ears Bridge.
“But we’re beginning to see some positive signs. Construction employment has increased over the past three months. Non-residential permits increased 34 per cent in July over June. It’s the third month in a row of increased activity. We probably hit the low point in January.”
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