OTTAWA — Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says the annual pace of housing starts in October rose eight per cent compared with September.
The national housing agency said the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts was 240,761 units in October, up from 223,391 in September.
The increase came as the annual pace of urban housing starts rose six per cent to 223,111 units.
The annual pace of multi-unit urban starts such as apartments, condominiums and townhouses gained seven per cent at 175,705, while the rate of single-detached urban starts increased one per cent at 47,406 units.
The annual pace of rural starts was estimated at 17,650.
CMHC chief economist Bob Dugan said the Prairies, Quebec and Atlantic provinces have seen higher activity this year, while Ontario and B.C. recorded declines.
"Despite these results, we remain well below what is required to restore affordability in Canada’s urban centres," Dugan said in a news release on Monday.
Actual year-to-date housing starts between January and October 2024 were up 12 per cent in Montreal from the same period last year, while in Vancouver, actual starts were down 18 per cent after a record high year in 2023.
In Toronto, actual year-to-date housing starts were down 21 per cent from 2023.
CMHC said the six-month moving average of the annual rate of housing starts was flat in October at 243,522 units.
TD economist Rishi Sondhi said October's "healthy" level of starts "sets homebuilding off on the right foot in terms of its contribution to overall economic growth in the fourth quarter."
But the outlook for housing starts remains "soft," he said, even when considering October's gains.
"This is largely due to the outsized weakness expected for Ontario, which will bring down the national figures," Sondhi said in a note, adding starts in Ontario over the past 12 months have fallen to levels last seen in 2020.
"Pre-sales activity remains exceedingly weak in the GTA, pointing to more of the same through 2025. This is the key factor underpinning our forecast that starts will decline next year, even with homebuilding likely to hold up better in other parts of the country."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 18, 2024.
The Canadian Press
