Canadian housing starts stumble in april

Photo: Archer10

The number of seasonal adjusted housing starts totalled 181,814 units in April, down from 189,546 units in March. The number of urban starts decreased by 6.6 per cent in April to 165,445 units. Multi-unit urban starts decreased by 14.2 per cent to 107,216 units in April while the single-detached urban starts segment increased by 11.4 per cent to 58,229 units.

The annual rate of urban starts increased in Atlantic and British Columbia, while it essentially held steady in Ontario and decreased in the Prairies and Québec.

"Elevated levels of multi-unit starts during mid-2014 caused the trend to peak in September. Starts activity since then has trended down to current stable levels as builders have adjusted activity to manage inventories," says Bob Dugan, Chief Economist at CMHC’s Market Analysis Centre. "This trend is in line with CMHC’s expectations for housing starts in 2015."

At the same time, sales of Canadian homes continued to climb, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association.

"In recent years, the seasonal pattern for home sales and listings has become amplified in places where listings are in short supply relative to demand," said Gregory Klump, CREA’s Chief Economist.

"This particularly stands out in and around Toronto. Sellers there have increasingly delayed listing their home until spring. Once listed, it sells fairly quickly. Sales over the year as a whole in Southern Ontario are likely being constrained to some degree by a short supply of single family homes. However, the busy spring home buying and selling season has become that much busier as a result of sellers waiting until winter has faded before listing."