November 5 , 2009

ICBA Commentary: Building Permits September 2009

The Independent Contractors and Businesses Association (ICBA) offered the following commentary on today's Statistics Canada release of the building permits survey for September 2009.

“People are starting to recognize that there has never been a better time in BC to build,” said Philip Hochstein, President of the ICBA. “We are optimistic that investment in construction is beginning to climb. The residential sector is already taking advantage of the competitiveness of the current market. We expect investment in industrial, commercial and institutional buildings will follow soon.

Hochstein added that as competition for work increased through the past year’s slowdown, contractors have adjusted their pricing because of improvements in productivity, falling commodity prices and reductions in their own profitability. ”With a decrease in construction costs of more than 20 per cent, construction prices have reached the bottom. The affordability of new construction, combined with all-time low interest rates should spur investment.”

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