No lazy days of summer, home construction jumps in June

By NextHome Staff
July 09, 2015
Chart courtesy of CMHC

The lazy days of summer have been anything but, as home construction across Canada jumped in June, measuring 183,959 units compared to 179,908 in May, according to the latest data released by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC). The housing agency attributes the increase to a boost in condo construction, despite a drop in single-detached starts.

“The trend in housing starts increased this month as multiple starts trended upward, offsetting a downward trend in single-detached home starts,” says Bob Dugan, CMHC’s chief economist. “The rise in the trend of multiple starts reflects a 53-per-cent increase in seasonally adjusted multiple starts from February to June 2015. Seasonally adjusted multiple starts are at their highest level since September 2012, but are expected to moderate over the coming months.”

CMHC uses the trend measure as a complement to the monthly SAAR of housing starts to account for considerable swings in monthly estimates and obtain a more complete picture of the state of Canada’s housing market. In some situations analyzing only SAAR data can be misleading, as they are largely driven by the multi-unit segment of the market which can vary significantly from one month to the next.

The standalone monthly SAAR was 202,818 units in June, up from 196,981 units in May. The SAAR of urban starts increased by 3.2 per cent in June to 188,720 units. Multi-unit urban starts increased by 3.7 per cent to 130,933 units in June, while the single-detached urban starts segment increased by 2.0 per cent to 57,787 units.

In June, the seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts increased in British Columbia, Québec, the Prairies and Atlantic Canada, while it decreased in Ontario.

Rural starts were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 14,098 units.

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