Construction numbers down in economic report card

The latest economic report card for Regina shows the city’s construction industry is having a tough year.

The analysis — done by Economic Development Regina Inc., Praxis Consulting and SJ Research Services — showed that housing starts in the city in August dropped by 62.3 per cent year over year.

There were 854 housing starts in Regina in the first eight months of 2018. In that same time period in 2019, there were 322 housing starts.

The value of building permits through August of this year were down 17.2 per cent from the same time frame last year. The biggest declines were in institutional and governmental (62.8 per cent), and residential permits (38.5 per cent). By contrast, the value of commercial permits increased by 44.8 per cent.

The downturn in construction was felt in the employment numbers, too.

The report card said there were 1,311 fewer people working in construction over the first nine months of 2019 compared to the same period in the previous year. There also were 1,056 fewer people in the professional, scientific and technical services field compared to 2018.

The biggest increases in employment were in accommodation and food services (up 1,800 jobs year over year), public administration (856) and resource extraction (778).

In total, employment in the city over the first nine months of the year was up by 1.9 per cent (2,667 jobs) over the same period in 2018.

The report card contained good news for home buyers. It showed the Housing Price Index Benchmark Price fell by more than $11,000 to $266,189 in September from the same month last year.

The analysis also noted that the Conference Board of Canada is predicting Regina’s economy will show a real GDP gain of 2.3 per cent in 2019. The city’s GDP increased by 0.8 per cent in 2018.