Municipalities approved the construction of 14,136 new dwellings in November, down 13.4 per cent. (Canadian Press)

Contractors applied for $5.5 billion worth of building permits in November, an 11.2 per cent decline from October and the second consecutive monthly drop.

Statistics Canada said Monday that the value of residential permits fell 7.2 per cent to $3.2 billion, also the second monthly decline in a row. Most of the decrease came from British Columbia, where municipalities reported drops in both single- and multi-family dwellings following three consecutive monthly gains in the residential sector.

After six months of consecutive gains, the total value of permits fell 43.4 per cent in British Columbia, mainly as a result of a decrease in multi-family dwellings.

Nationally, the value of building permits for multi-family dwellings fell 22.4 per cent to $1.1 billion in November, the lowest level since February 2010.

Intentions for single-family dwellings increased 3.4 per cent to $2.1 billion, following a 9.3 per cent decrease in October. Gains were posted in six provinces, led by Quebec.

Nationally, municipalities approved 14,136 new dwellings in November, down 13.4 per cent from October. The decline came from multi-family dwellings, which fell 24.1 per cent to 7,428 units, while single-family dwellings rose 2.6 per cent to 6,708 units.

Regionally, the value of building permits was down in seven provinces. The total value of permits fell in 19 of the 34 census metropolitan areas.