December 9, 2009

OTTAWA – New home starts increased in Canada in November, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. The seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts reached 158,500 units in November – up 0.7 per cent, from 157,400 units in October. The November total represents a new high for the year.
“The improvement in housing starts continued in November,” said Bob Dugan, chief economist at the CMHC’s Market Analysis Centre. “Despite a small decline in November’s multiple home construction, overall starts numbers were up due to a solid increase in singles starts.”
Urban multiple starts decreased slightly from 72,500 units in October to 71,300 units in November. This was offset by a surge in single-family urban starts, which increased by 3.4 per cent to 69,800 units in November.
Quebec led the way from a regional perspective, seeing its starts jump 10 per cent. The Prairies were next with an 8.2 per cent appreciation in starts, and by British Columbia with a 6.2 per cent rise. The rate of urban starts decreased by 8.3 per cent in Ontario and by 9.8 per cent in Atlantic Canada.