Hamilton is on track for another record year of building permit sales.

Chief building official Ed VanderWindt said Wednesday that as of the end of October, the city had issued permits for more than $1.1 billion worth of construction in the previous 12 months.

Since Jan. 1, the city has issued 5,158 permits for more than $970 million worth of construction.

Both figures are the second highest totals in the past five years. The best year on record was 2012 when permits were issued for almost $1.4 billion in construction in the previous 12 months and almost $1.3 billion in the year-to-date period.

"These are wonderful numbers," he said. "They show there is tremendous interest in Hamilton as a place to invest."

VanderWindt added permits for more than $150 million in construction are "just waiting to go out the door in the next few months," so that final tally for 2014 could be much higher.

The most recent building department report to city council shows 606 permits issued in October for total construction worth $89.63 million.

The residential component was the strongest, accounting for 73.1 per cent of the month's total, valued at $65.5 million. Of the 325 permits in the residential category, 103 were for new single family dwellings at a total value of $38.06 million.

Commercial activity accounted for 15.4 per cent or $13.8 million, with 44 permits issued. Industrial activity made up 6.43 per cent or $5.7 million and the government and institutional activity sector stood at 3.53 per cent or $3.17 million.

Industrial, commercial and institutional building is especially important to the city because it helps address a long-standing imbalance between residential and other kinds of assessment in Hamilton. The imbalance results in higher tax bills for homeowners.

"This has been a really strong year for industrial and commercial development," VanderWindt said. "We need that."

The October report shows several large building projects in the works — $2 million for a complex of stores in Glanbrook, $1.4 million for a manufacturing plant on Arvin Avenue in Stoney Creek, $2 million for offices on Upper Ottawa Street and more than $828,000 for a warehouse on Hempstead Drive on Hamilton Mountain.

In a news release touting the milestone, the city's economic development director Neil Everson said the industrial-commercial permits are important because many represent expansions of local companies as well as work for new businesses.