Canada savours ‘strong’ starts

Canada experienced a timely housing boost in May, new figures have revealed…

The seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts was 221,300 units in May, up from 213,900 units in April, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).

Bob Dugan, Chief Economist at CMHC’s Market Analysis Centre, commented: “Housing starts in May moved up from the strong level posted in April. Most of the increase reflected a rise in single starts, which in April had reached their lowest level since May 2001.

”Seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts edged up by 4.0 per cent to 192,800 units compared to April. Urban multiples rose 1.9 per cent to 116,100 in May, while singles increased 7.3 per cent to 76,700 units”.

Mr Dugan added: “For the first five months of 2008, actual starts in rural and urban areas combined were up an estimated 0.7 per cent compared to the same period last year. Year-to-date actual starts in urban areas have increased by an estimated 5.6 per cent over the same period in 2007.

”Actual urban single starts for the five months of this year were 14.8 per cent lower than they were a year earlier, while multiple starts increased by 22.7 per cent over the same period”.