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<\/a>Photo:\u00a0edb3_16<\/a> \/ Adobe Stock<\/em><\/p>\nThe number of housing starts across Canada continued to trend downward in October according to new market insights from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).<\/p>\n
In a report released today<\/a>, the federal corporation stated that the standalone monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR) of housing starts for all areas in Canada was 236,554 units in October. This is a 5.3 per cent drop from September, when there were 249,922 units.<\/p>\n The SAAR for urban starts dipped 3.7 per cent in October to 214,797 units. Multiple urban starts also dropped by 5.3 per cent to 156,781 units, but single-detached urban starts crept up by just one per cent to 58,016 units last month.<\/p>\n\n The trend in national housing starts fell to 264,264 units in October, down from 270,661 units in September. This trend measure is a six-month moving average of the monthly SAAR of housing starts, CMHC explained. To account for swings in monthly estimates and to gain a \u201cmore complete picture of Canada\u2019s housing market,\u201d CMHC uses the trend measure to complement the monthly SAAR in starts.<\/p>\n \u201cThe six-month trend in housing starts declined from September to October, as the retreat in total starts from their earlier 2021 levels continued,\u201d said Bob Dugan, CMHC’s chief economist, in the report.<\/p>\n \u201cFor SAAR housing starts in Canada\u2019s urban areas, a slight increase in single-detached starts didn\u2019t offset a larger decrease in multi-family starts in October and led to a decline in overall starts for the month,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n On a trend and monthly SAAR basis, Dugan pointed out that the level of housing starts activity in Canada remains high in historical terms. Between Canada\u2019s largest cities\u00a0\u2014 Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver\u00a0\u2014 the latter was the only market to show growth in total SAAR starts during October thanks to a rebound in the multi-family segment in the previous month.<\/p>\n Vancouver reported a 50 per cent increase in total month-to-month SAAR starts, rising from 14,195 to 21,227 units. Meanwhile, Toronto and Montreal reported monthly drops of 43 per cent and 17 per cent as SAAR starts fell to 31,591 and 28,180 units.<\/p>\n Within the single-family segment specifically, Montreal and Vancouver reported between a zero and one per cent increase in SAAR housing starts from September to October, while starts in this category jumped seven per cent in Toronto.<\/p>\n For \u201cAll Others\u201d housing types, Toronto and Montreal saw SAAR housing starts fall 49 per cent and 19 per cent, while they rose 63 per cent in Vancouver.<\/p>\n<\/a>Photo: James Bombales<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n