Residential construction permit values are now starting to show signs of the deceleration currently apparent in sales activity
Residential construction intentions ticked down by 0.1% annually (reaching $7.8 billion) in May despite the total value of new building permits nationwide rising by 2.3% (up to $12.1 billion) during the same period, according to Statistics Canada.
The decline in the residential segment stemmed from losses in seven provinces, with increases in Ontario and British Columbia proving insufficient to make up for these drops.
Single-family intentions went up by 7%, while multi-family construction decelerated by 5.9% in May, with Quebec returning to “more normal” levels despite a 10.1% increase in British Columbia.
Read more: Analysis: Pandemic-era housing boom now stalling
The overall number of new housing units built across Canada fell by 3.4% compared to April, with the slowdown in multi-family activity (down by 6.4%) partially offset by robustness in the single-family home component (up by 5.4%).
The value of non-residential construction permits increased by 7% annually to $4.3 billion in May, with substantial gains in the commercial (up by 15.6%) and institutional (up by 4.3%) segments compensated for by losses in the industrial component (down by 6.1%).
