Canada’s residential property market recorded slight increases in housing starts in November, according to the latest report from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).
There were 219,047 units that commenced construction in the month, up from 218,253 units in October. CMHC said this trend measure is a six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of housing starts.
“The national trend in housing starts was essentially unchanged in November, reflecting slight increases in the national trends of both multi-family and single-detached starts,” said CMHC chief economist Bob Dugan.
The standalone monthly SAAR of housing starts for all areas in Canada was 201,318 units in November, a slight increase of 0.3% from 200,674 units in October.
The SAAR of urban starts also increased, up 0.4% in November to 188,559 units.
Multiple urban starts improved by 2.3% to 141,753 units in November, while single-detached urban starts decreased by 5.1% to 46,806 units.
Vancouver saw a significant decline in the trend of multi-unit starts for a second consecutive month. This is after a surge in construction activity earlier this year.
“This decline was offset by modest gains in the multi-unit trend in most other major markets, including Toronto,” said Dugan.
