Canadian Housing Starts Jump 16% in July

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC) is reporting that the annual pace of housing starts in July rose nearly 16% when compared with June. CMHC is reporting that the seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of housing starts rose to 245,604 in July, up from 212,095 in June. Economists had expected an annual rate of 210,000.  The increase came as urban starts of apartments, condos and other types of multiple-unit housing projects rose 18.8% to 184,431 in July while single-detached urban starts climbed 12.3% to 47,564. While rural starts were estimated at a SAAR of 13,609 units for July.  Bob Dugan, CMHC’s chief economist, said in a statement that despite upward trend that he expects homebuilding to slow in the near future. Dugan’s statement cited the negative impact of COVID-19 on economic and housing indicators.