The annual pace of starts posted a huge monthly decrease
The annual pace of housing starts in Canada saw a double-digit drop in July compared with the previous month in a further sign of the steep supply challenges facing the housing and rental markets.
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) said the yearly pace of starts plunged by 10% last month over June, with the seasonally-adjusted annual rate coming it at 254,966 units compared with 283,498 for the prior month.
That continues a wildly erratic trajectory for housing starts throughout 2023 to date, with the annual pace fluctuating dramatically from month to month.
July’s figures were driven by a big decline in the annual pace of urban starts, which fell by 11% to 234,857 units, while multi-unit urban starts were down by 12% and single-detached urban starts posted a 4% decline. The annual rate of rural starts, meanwhile, came in at 20,109 units for the month.
Vancouver and Toronto accounted for the most noteworthy slowdowns in the annual pace of overall starts (23% and 29% respectively), wiping out gains in Calgary (33%), Montreal (12%0, and Edmonton (6%).
The pace of housing starts had posted its largest monthly increase for a decade in June after an unpredictable start to the year.
