Data shows a slowdown in starts, permits
With tight supply being blamed for the escalation in home prices and weakened home sales, any slowdown in construction starts and intentions is far from welcome.
Data released Tuesday shows weakening numbers for new home construction in many parts of Canada and lower intentions from homebuilders.
CMHC says that the six-month trend of starts slipped to 214,821 last month from 220,573 in August; that’s the first decline for nine months.
Toronto and Vancouver both posted lower starts with the multi-family sector leading the declines. Saskatoon also has lower starts, but this was shared between multi-family and single-family homes. Quebec was one of the stronger markets along with London.
“Housing starts are trending lower in September after increasing for eight consecutive months,” said Bob Dugan, CMHC’s chief economist. “Nevertheless, new home construction remains very strong as the seasonally adjusted number of starts was above 200,000 units for four straight months.”
Meanwhile, Statistics Canada reported Tuesday that the value of building permits issued in August was down 5.5% from July to $7.5 billion.
For the residential sector, permits issued totalled $4.87 billion, down 2.8% from July. However, this was up 6.5% from August 2016. For multi-family intentions there was a 6% drop month-over-month ($2.36 bn) but permits were up 15.4% year-over-year.
Single-family permits issued totalled $2.51 billion, up 0.4% month-over-month and down 0.8% year-over-year.
Year-to-date the value of building permits to the end of August is up 8.7% compared with the same period in 2016, reflecting a $3.1 billion increase in multi-family dwellings.
Data released Tuesday shows weakening numbers for new home construction in many parts of Canada and lower intentions from homebuilders.
CMHC says that the six-month trend of starts slipped to 214,821 last month from 220,573 in August; that’s the first decline for nine months.
Toronto and Vancouver both posted lower starts with the multi-family sector leading the declines. Saskatoon also has lower starts, but this was shared between multi-family and single-family homes. Quebec was one of the stronger markets along with London.
“Housing starts are trending lower in September after increasing for eight consecutive months,” said Bob Dugan, CMHC’s chief economist. “Nevertheless, new home construction remains very strong as the seasonally adjusted number of starts was above 200,000 units for four straight months.”
Meanwhile, Statistics Canada reported Tuesday that the value of building permits issued in August was down 5.5% from July to $7.5 billion.
For the residential sector, permits issued totalled $4.87 billion, down 2.8% from July. However, this was up 6.5% from August 2016. For multi-family intentions there was a 6% drop month-over-month ($2.36 bn) but permits were up 15.4% year-over-year.
Single-family permits issued totalled $2.51 billion, up 0.4% month-over-month and down 0.8% year-over-year.
Year-to-date the value of building permits to the end of August is up 8.7% compared with the same period in 2016, reflecting a $3.1 billion increase in multi-family dwellings.
