The trend measure of housing starts in Canada was 195,064 units in April compared to 196,103 in March, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (the trend is a six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates of housing starts).
“While the trend for Canada remained stable in April, there were offsetting differences at the local level, notably in Vancouver and Montréal,” says Bob Dugan, CMHC chief economist. “Condo construction is slowing down in Montréal, as builders are managing inventories by channeling demand to units that have been completed but remain unsold.”
The standalone monthly SAAR for all areas in Canada was 191,512 units in April, down from 202,375 units in March. The SAAR of urban starts decreased by 4.6% in April to 174,810 units. Multiple urban starts decreased by 4% to 117,851 units in April and the single-detached urban starts decreased by 5.8% to 56,959 units.
In April, the seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts increased in the Prairies, British Columbia and Atlantic Canada, but decreased in Ontario and Québec.
Rural starts were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 16,702 units.
Click here to check out all preliminary housing starts data.
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