Canadian Housing Starts, July 2010 Results

Date: August 10, 2010

Canadian Housing Starts, July 2010 Results

Source: Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC)

Link to Release: http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/odpub/esub/64695/64695_2010_M08.pdf

Summary: Canadian housing starts fell 1.6 per cent in July to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 189,200 units from an upwardly revised June figure of 192,300 units. Single-family urban starts accounted for much of the decrease, down 11.3 per cent to 67,900 units. Rural starts also fell. A 13.4 per cent increase in multiple-family starts was not enough to offset these declines. Starts in the GTA fell by four per cent to an annualized rate of 26,100 units. On a year-overyear basis, however, both the national and local figures for July were above 2009 levels.

Analysis: The July housing starts figures show that new home construction activity remains above 2009 levels, but the annual rate of starts still remains well below the average for the past decade. At the current level of population in the GTA, an annual housing starts total between 35,000 and 40,000 would make sense for 2010. This justified total is higher than the current annual rate. We are likely experiencing a balancing out in the level of residential construction after very high starts in the years leading up to the recession, when the level of starts was above the level of household growth in many years.

Source: Toronto Real Estate Board

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