Fewer homes built in Canada last month

By Staff | October 10, 2017 | Last updated on October 10, 2017
2 min read

There were 214,821 housing units built in September 2017, compared to 220,573 units in August 2017, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).

“Housing starts are trending lower in September after increasing for eight consecutive months,” says Bob Dugan, CMHC’s chief economist. “Nevertheless, new home construction remains very strong as the seasonally adjusted number of starts was above 200,000 units for four straight months.”

National breakdown

St. John’s Drivers such as population, income and employment have put downward pressure on new home construction activity. Total housing starts fell 34% in September compared to the prior year. Single-detached starts declined 33%, while multiple starts declined 42%.

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Prince Edward Island Tightness in PEI’s resale sector continues to cause demand to spill over into the Island’s new home market. Starts of single-detached homes were up 93% year-to-date in September, with most of the activity concentrated in the Charlottetown area. Record-high levels of international migration continue to support starts of multi-family dwellings, which were up 16% year-to-date.

Quebec In the third quarter of 2017, the annual rate of housing starts for the province reached 43,736 units, up from the level registered for the previous quarter (40,564 units). This last result was attributable to the strong momentum observed in the multi-unit housing segment, particularly in the case of rental apartments, for which starts remained significant in the Montréal and Québec areas.

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Toronto Homebuilders broke ground on fewer homes in the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) during September 2017. Total housing starts trended lower by 7 % in September from the previous month, led by lower apartment starts. Monthly variations in high-rise starts are typical given delays in getting large scale projects off the ground. Low-rise starts remained strong. The overall pace of new home construction remains stable as strong demand for new homes continues to persist.

Saskatoon Total housing starts trended lower in September after production of both single-detached and multi-family units slowed. While the pace of construction in the singles sector has been on par with last year, multi-family construction was down 30% after nine months this year. Elevated inventory of completed and unsold condo apartments has remained a drag on this sector. All told, total year-to-date housing starts in September were down 13%, compared to the same period a year ago.

Vancouver Housing starts in the Vancouver CMA trended downwards in September, as fewer multi-family home projects got underway. The high level of housing starts over the past year has led to a record number of units being under construction in the region, leaving little spare capacity to start additional projects. New home construction in the Vancouver CMA is being supported by population growth, a strong local economy and low financing costs.

Advisor.ca staff

Staff

The staff of Advisor.ca have been covering news for financial advisors since 1998.