With two-thirds of 2012 behind them, building activity was up in Alberta's major cities by about 7.9 per cent in Calgary and a somewhat more impressive 13.7 per cent in Edmonton.
Still, Calgary was way ahead in total new construction, hitting $3.33 billion for the first eight months of the year, ahead of Edmonton's $2.2 billion for the same period.
Residential growth has been the big engine in Calgary this year, with single- family residential permits up by more than 490 units and overall residential construction up by almost 26 per cent. Non-residential permit values were down about 7.8 per cent.
Edmonton's increase was evident almost across the board, with only the institutional sector's building activity lower in the first eight months of the year.
Calgary housing sales are also up for the first nine months of the year, rising 15 per cent over 2011.
from Western Investor November 2012
