Canadian Housing Starts Decline Month-Over-Month in January

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) reported today (2-15-23) that the standalone monthly seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of total housing starts for all areas in Canada declined 13% to 215,365 units in January 2023, when compared to 248,296 units in December 2022.

The SAAR of total urban starts declined 16%, with 191,491 units recorded in January. Multi-unit starts declined 20% to 146,267 units, while single-detached urban starts increased 3% to 45,224 units. The rural starts SAAR estimate was 23,874 units.

In January, the trend in housing starts was 259,412 units, down 4% from 269,871 units in December. The trend measure is a six-month moving average of the month SAAR of total housing starts for all areas in Canada.

Adding additional background to the January housing report and his analysis, CMHC’s Deputy Chief Economist Dr. Aled ab lorwerth said:

“Both the Monthly SAAR and the six-month trend of housing starts declined nationally in the first month of 2023, with SAAR of housing starts hitting its lowest level since September 2020. Among Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, Montreal was the only market with increases in total SAAR housing starts in January, up 36%. Toronto declined 52% while Vancouver declined 14%, which contributed to the overall monthly decline in SAAR housing starts for Canada.”