Continuous Upward Trend In Housing Starts

The month of May documented a healthier housing start trend than April, with figures hitting an amount of 214,621 in comparison to 213,435, CMHC reported.

“Housing statistics were trending higher in May in Canada’s urban areas”, said Bob Dugan, CMHC’s Chief Economist. “Row and apartment units led the ascending change, while construction has slowed for exorbitant single- and semi-detached houses.”

The data shows a steep decline in starts and also exposes regional differences, in particular single-detached and row units. On the other hand the reverse was right in Kitchener, Cambridge and Waterloo which went through a smooth process of growth in single-detached, row houses and all housing types with a higher trend.

Vancouver seems to be on the right path with 25,000 this year, after which they had experienced a little overall decline. Kelowna, Abbotsford-Mission and other urban areas all uniquely saw a rise while Victoria experienced a lean reduction.

While Calgary, Edmonton and Regina are earning their confidence in the midst of builders, Alberta and Saskatchewan display a satisfactory growth. Saskatoon, notwithstanding, is still under some pressure even with a 25% decrease realized, as builders are cagy about the high inventory of multi-family units.

The starts of Quebec’s housing are still trending lower. A constant figure same as what they were at the start of the year. A growing vacancy rate for newly-built rental units is fueling this drift.

Hamilton is exhibiting a strong movement for apartments with starts in this category doubling, in comparison to the same date last year. There is an increase of up to 16% so far in 2017 for single-detached starts, which looks very promising.

J C Loum