The momentum from last year’s record level of building permits for housing has spilled over into 2004, according to Statistics Canada.

StatsCan says low mortgage rates, employment strength and a high level of consumer confidence have contributed the housing boom.

“Municipalities issued almost $3 billion worth of building permits for housing in January, up 1.1% from the previous high in December.

“This augurs well for a busy spring for workers in the residential construction sector, as permits are a leading indicator of building activity.”

“Overall, builders took out $4.4 billion in building permits in January, down 0.9% from December, and 1.4% below the value of permits issued in January 2003,” StatsCan says.

But it said that the value of non-residential permits fell by 4.9% to $1.4 billion, as industrial, commercial and institutional all retreated.

“Demand remained high for single-family dwellings as municipalities authorized 10,740 new units,” the agency said. “This was higher than the monthly average of 10,200 units in 2003, which was an exceptional year.

“On a year-over-year basis, permits for single-family dwellings were up six% from January 2003, while those for multi-family were up 17.7%.

“In January alone, permits for 9,175 new multi-family units were issued, significantly higher than the average monthly level of 8,350 in 2003. A vast majority of the January permits were for new apartments and condominiums.”

New Brunswick, Quebec and British Columbia set records for the value of residential construction intentions. The most important declines in the value of housing permits occurred in by Alberta, Ontario and Nova Scotia.