Statistics Canada said today that the overall value of building permits issued by municipalities fell 2.6% to $5.0 billion in April, down from the exceptional $5.2 billion in March.

The government agency said 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.

For the first four months of this year, the $19.7 billion worth of building permits issued was a 13.7% jump from the same period last year.

The government agency said towns and cities issued $3.2 billion worth of building permits in April for single and multi-family dwellings.

That was up 7.8% from March.

On the other hand, permits for non-residential projects tumbled by 16% to $1.9 billion.