Starts Unexpectedly Rise in March

April 8, 2009



The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation is reporting there was an unexpected rise in housing starts during the month of March. In its monthly report, the CMHC found that the seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of housing starts increased from 136,100 in February to 154,700 in March — a year-to-date high.
The 13.7 per cent increase takes the SAAR of housing starts back above its January level of 153,500.
Urban starts had been at the heart of February’s decline and were a driving force in the rebound. The SAAR of urban starts was up 17 per cent overall to 127,900, including a 28.3 per cent rise in multi-family home starts and a 1.3 per cent increase in single-family starts. The SAAR of urban starts had fallen 17.5 per cent between January and February.  
Rural starts were flat for a second consecutive month at 26,800.
“Higher multiple starts in Ontario and Quebec were the main contributors to the rise in new construction activity in March,” said Bob Dugan, Chief Economist at the CMHC’s Market Analysis Centre. “While the multiples segment experienced the largest increase, the overall boost in starts was broad based, encompassing the singles segment as well.”
Urban starts were up 35 per cent in Ontario and 23.3 per cent in Quebec on a seasonally adjusted annual basis. On the other side of the ledger were British Columbia, Atlantic Canada and the Prairies, which saw declines of 17.3, 7.9 and 7.5 per cent, respectively.

The CMHC took the somewhat unusual step of qualifying the findings, saying “new home construction is now at a more sustainable level after having been exceptionally strong over the past 7 years, exceeding 200,000 units per year.”