Canadian housing starts trended up 0.4% month-over-month in February with 256,000 units, according to a 6-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rate of total housing starts in all areas tracked by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
The February standalone seasonally adjusted annual rate rose 4.5% to 238,049 units when compared with the 250,900 units in January. “This highlights the volatility of month-over-month starts figures and the caution with which they should be interpreted,” CMHC notes.
February monthly housing starts were up from 14,420 units to 15,886 units (a 10% increase) year-over-year in centers with a population of 10,000 or larger, according to CMHC.
Vancouver and Montreal experienced 60% and 18% increases,respectively, in month-over-month housing starts due to more multi-unit and single-detached starts. Toronto’s housing starts declined 28% month over month due to fewer multi-unit and single-detached starts.
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