The value of building permits issued by municipalities plunged in March from February as contractors backed away from non-residential projects but turned again to housing, Statistics Canada reported today.

“Builders took out $4.2 billion in building permits in March, down 4.2% from February,” the agency said in a news release.

The value of non-residential permits plunged 19.4% to $1.29 billion, their lowest level since April 2002.

However, that was partly offset by a 4.5% advance in the value of residential permits to $2.91 billion in March, just below the record high of $2.95 billion set in December 2003.

“On a quarterly basis, the residential sector’s strength drove the overall value for the first three months of 2004 up 6.2% to $12.9 billion,” the StatsCan said.

“Between January and March, builders took out $8.6 billion worth in residential permits, up 14.6% from the same period in 2003. In contrast, non-residential permits fell 7.5% to $4.3 billion.”

Some of the decline in non-residential construction intentions may be due to the fact that in February, builders took out $1.6 billion in permits for industrial, commercial and institutional projects, the highest level in seven months and a 15.1% gain from January.

However, the Statistics Canada also said that the non-residential sector has been showing a downward trend since July 2003.