Canada: Municipalities issued $7.5 bln worth of building permits in Aug, down 5.5% from July

"Canadian municipalities issued $7.5 billion worth of building permits in August, down 5.5% from July," the Statistics Canada announced on Tuesday.

Key quotes:

• This was the second consecutive monthly decrease.
• Despite these declines, the year-to-date value of building permits (January to August) is up 8.7% compared with the same period in 2016, reflecting a $3.1 billion increase in multi-family dwellings.
• Total construction intentions for multi-family dwellings in Canada declined in August, down 6.0% from July. However, the sector has been on an upward trend since 2009.