Canadian Housing Starts Trend Increases in June

The trend measure of housing starts in Canada was 197,918 units in June compared to 190,302 in May, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). The trend is a six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR) of housing starts.

“Overall, June saw housing starts pick up pace in Canada, bolstered by apartment construction in Ontario – especially new condo construction in Toronto’s downtown core,” said Bob Dugan, CMHC Chief Economist. “However, elsewhere in the country, construction activity slowed as apartment construction eased in Quebec. Housing starts are also trending down in Alberta as a result of high inventories in the new and existing home markets of that province.”

CMHC uses the trend measure as a complement to the monthly SAAR of housing starts to account for considerable swings in monthly estimates and obtain a more complete picture of the state of Canada’s housing market. In some situations analyzing only SAAR data can be misleading, as they are largely driven by the multi-unit segment of the market which can vary significantly from one month to the next.

The standalone monthly SAAR for all areas in Canada was 218,333 units in June, up from 186,709 units in May. The SAAR of urban starts increased by 18.1 per cent in June to 202,702 units. Multiple urban starts increased by 26.7 per cent to 142,819 units in June and the single-detached urban starts increased by 1.7 per cent to 59,883 units.

In June, the seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts increased in British Columbia, Ontario, and in the Prairies, but decreased in Atlantic Canada, and Québec.

Rural starts were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 15,631 units.