Canadian Housing Starts Decline Month-Over-Month and Year-Over-Year in October

According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), the trend in housing starts in Canada was at 264,264 units in October, down from 270.661 units in September. The “trend” measure is a 6-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR) of housing starts. In October, the standalone monthly SAAR of housing starts for all areas in Canada was 236,554 units — a decline of -5.3% from 249,922 units in September.

The SAAR of urban starts decreased by -3.7% in October to 214,797 units. Multiple urban starts decreased by -5.3% to 156,781 units in October, while single-detached urban starts increased by 1% to 58,016 units. Rural starts were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 21,757 units.

In a statement prepared for the release of the housing start trends report, Bob Dugan, CMHC’s chief economist said, “The six-month trend in housing starts declined from September to October, as the retreat in total starts from their earlier 2021 levels continued. For SAAR housing starts in Canada’s urban areas, a slight increase in single-detached starts didn’t offset a larger decrease in multi-family starts in October and led to a decline in overall starts for the month. On a trend and monthly SAAR basis, however, the level of housing starts activity in Canada remains high in historical terms. Among Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal, Vancouver was the only market to register growth in total SAAR starts in October, due to a rebound from the prior month in the multi-family segment.”