Housing starts climb

Housing starts in Canada reached 189,784 units in July, compared to 185,952 in June, says the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

“The trend in construction has increased modestly in recent months due to in large part to multiple starts, which have strong variability from month-to-month,” notes Bob Dugan, CMHC’s chief economist. “CMHC continues to expect a soft landing for the new home construction market in Canada.”

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CMHC uses the six-month trend measure as a complement to the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR) of housing starts. This helps provide a complete picture of the state of the market.

The standalone monthly SAAR was 200,098 units in July, a slight increase from 198,665 in June. The SAAR of urban starts was essentially stable at 182,932 units. Multiple urban starts in July decreased to 115,870 units while the single-detached urban starts segment increased to 67,062 units.

In July, the seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts increased in Atlantic Canada and Ontario, and decreased in the Prairies. Modest decreases were also observed in British Columbia and Quebec.

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