![\"home-construction-winter-canada\"](\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/home-construction-winter-canada.jpg\")
<\/a>Photo: Gary J. Wood\/Flickr<\/a><\/em><\/p>\nToward the end of 2015, Canadian homebuilders signalled a possible slowdown in home construction in more than one way.<\/p>\n
Compared to the month before, builders broke ground for fewer units in December, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). This slowdown followed a November when municipalities didn\u2019t approve as many units for construction as they did in October, according to Statistics Canada.<\/p>\n
In the final month of 2015, the seasonally adjusted annualized rate (SAAR) of housing starts equalled 172,965 units, an 18 per cent drop from November.<\/p>\n
\u201cA start is defined as the beginning of construction work on a building, usually when the concrete has been poured for the whole of the footing around the structure,\u201d a CMHC spokesperson explains.<\/p>\n
The SAAR of housing starts indicates how many units would enter the construction pipeline in a year if a given month\u2019s level of activity persisted for 12 months. To keep track of housing starts, CMHC visits properties for which a building permit has been approved.<\/p>\n
Because housing starts can fluctuate considerably from month to month, the Crown corporation also posts a trend measure that is \u201ca six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates.\u201d<\/p>\n
The trend measure decline was less pronounced, as the 203,502 units registered in December represented a 2.3 per cent decrease from the month before. Both single-family and multi-family starts dragged last month\u2019s trend measure down, said Bob Dugan, CMHC\u2019s chief economist, in a statement.<\/p>\n
Canada-wide, actual housing starts totalled 195,536 in 2015, up 3.3 per cent from the year before, when annual starts numbered 189,329.<\/p>\n
\u201cStarts increased in 2015 compared to 2014, largely driven by the condominium market in Toronto,\u201d he explained. \u201cHad the Toronto condominium starts remained stable in 2015, national starts would have declined on a year-over-year basis.\u201d<\/p>\n
In November, municipalities gave the go-ahead to the construction of 15,038 new homes a 24.3 per cent drop from October.<\/p>\n
Statistics Canada, which tracks the paperwork, says the residential building permits issued in November were worth $4 billion, 17.8 per cent less than the value of October permits.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe decline was mainly attributable to multi-family dwellings,\u201d which fell 33.1 per cent to 9,450 units,\u201d Statistics Canada said in a research note.<\/p>\n
Permits for 5,588 new single-family homes were issued in November, a 2.5 per cent monthly decrease.<\/p>\n
Because homebuilders need this paperwork to move forward with construction on a housing site, building permits provide an idea of future construction levels, and, ultimately, how many homes will be coming onto the market in the future.<\/p>\n
Since January, multi-family projects have made up about two-thirds of all residential construction proposals that municipalities have approved.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe high prices associated with the purchase of single-family dwellings in major Canadian cities have contributed to an increasing shift in housing demand toward multiple dwellings,\u201d according to Statistics Canada.<\/p>\n
Although year-end housing starts were up from last year, without Toronto’s condo-construction boom, that wouldn’t be the case, says CMHC.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":142750,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11269],"tags":[],"coauthors":[8692],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\n