Forex Investment

The value of building permits issued by Canadian municipalities in November slipped 6.6 per cent from the previous month to $6.03 billion, reflecting declines in both the residential and non-residential sectors, Statistics Canada said Thursday.

The federal government agency said building intentions in the non-residential sector fell 17.5 per cent from October to $2.17 billion in November. A rise in industrial construction intentions was not enough to overcome strong decreases in the commercial and institutional components.

The residential sector saw a decline offive per cent in building permits obtained in November to $3.86 billion.

Statistics Canada said a slight gain in single housing could not make up for a dive in the multi-family component, which includes condominiums. Municipalities approved 19,659 new units, down 4.3 per cent from October.

“Strength in employment, growth in disposable income, tight apartment vacancy rates in certain centres and attractive financing options continued to affect positively the housing sector,” the agency said. “However, the deterioration of housing affordability due to the growth in prices for new housing and the recent increases in mortgage rates could erode demand.”

On a year-to-date basis, the total value of building permits issued by Canadian cities from January to November hit $68.13 billion, up 12.4 per centcompared withthe first 11 months of 2006. This total was also 2.8 per cent higher than the previous annual record of $66.3 billion set in 2006.