Rebound Residential Permits

The rebound in the value of residential permits in April was more than offset by the first decline in three months in the non-residential sector. As a result, the overall value of building permits issued by municipalities fell 2.6% to $5.0 billion.

Even so, construction intentions remain strong. Municipalities issued an exceptional $5.2 billion in March and the value of permits surpassed the $5-billion mark in five of the previous six months. Construction intentions in April were 8.9% higher than the average monthly level in 2004, a record year.

In the housing sector, builders took out $3.2 billion in permits, up 7.8% from March, fuelled by advances for both single- and multi-family dwellings. This followed a 12.0% decline in March.

In the non-residential sector, the value of permits tumbled 16.0% to $1.9 billion. This drop, which followed the record high $2.2 billion posted in March, was due to declines in the commercial and institutional components. April's total was still 20.8% higher than the average monthly level in 2004.

Municipalities issued $19.7 billion in permits between January and April, up 13.7% from the same period last year.

The largest contributor to this advance was the non-residential sector with an impressive 29.7% gain to $7.3 billion. From January to April, residential permits have increased 6.1% to $12.4 billion.