Canadian Housing Starts Push Higher in November

According to the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), the trend in housing starts was 267,365 units in November, up from 264,583 units in October. This trend measures a six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted rates of housing starts in Canada.

The standalone monthly SAAR of housing starts for all areas in Canada was 301,279 units in November, an increase of 26% from 238,366 units in October. The SAAR of urban starts increased by 29% in November to 279,396 units. Multiple urban starts increased by 41% to 221,153 units in November, while single-detached urban starts decreased by 1% to 58,243 units. Rural starts were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 21,883 units.

In a statement prepared for the release of the November Housing Trend report, CMHC’s chief economist Bob Dugan said, “The six-month trend in housing starts was higher from October to November, with total starts rebounding from their declines in prior months. For SAAR housing starts in Canada’s urban areas, there was a slight decrease in single-detached starts, while multi-family starts experienced a large increase in November, resulting in higher overall starts for the month.”

“On a trend and monthly SAAR basis, the level of housing starts activity in Canada remains high in historical terms,” Dugan added. “Among Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal, Vancouver was the only negative market, while Toronto had a significant gain in total SAAR starts in November, due to the multi-family segment more than doubling from the prior month.”