By Robb M. Stewart
OTTAWA--Canadian housing starts picked up in May after declines the past two months, driven by increases in Toronto and Montreal and a continued focus by building on multi-unit homes.
Housing starts across Canada came in at a seasonally-adjusted annualized rate of 264,506 units last month, a 10% rise from the month before, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said Monday. The market was expecting 245,140 residential housing projects to have started for the month, according to economists at TD Securities.
Bob Dugan, CMHC's chief economist, said that while the rise for the month is positive for housing supply in Canada, downward pressure on starts is expected through the rest of the year.
The trend measure--a six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally-adjusted annual rate of housing starts--advanced 3.8% to 247,830 units in May, Canada's national housing agency said.
Urban starts of multi-family units, such as condominiums and row houses, increased 13% to 203,141 units, while starts for single detached units edged up 2% to 42,970 units.
In urban centers with a population of 10,00 or more, the actual number of starts jumped 39% in May, driven by a 49% leap in multi-unit starts and 6% rise in single-detached homes. A jump in starts in Montreal and increase in Toronto more than made up for a fall in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Write to Robb M. Stewart at robb.stewart@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
06-17-24 0905ET
