CMHC reports September pace for housing starts up from August

OTTAWA — Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says the annual pace of housing starts in September was up five per cent compared with August.

The national housing agency said the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts was 223,808 units in September, up from 213,012 in August.

The increase came as the pace of starts in urban centres rose six per cent to 210,002 units in September compared with 199,035 in August.

Actual housing starts in Canada’s urban centres have risen two per cent in the first three quarters of the year, CMHC said. There are 168,897 homes which have begun construction from January to September of this year, up from 165,559 for the same period in 2023.

The national housing agency highlighted Montreal, where actual year-to-date housing starts are up 15 per cent from the same period last year, which it attributed to recovery from historically low new home construction in 2023.

Meanwhile in Vancouver, actual starts are down 19 per cent thus far in 2024 compared with 2023, which was a record year. Toronto’s year-to-date housing starts are down 20 per cent from 2023, which was also a high year for housing starts by historical standards.

“Growth in actual year-to-date housing starts has been driven by both higher multi-unit and single-detached units in Alberta, Quebec and the Atlantic provinces,” said deputy chief economist Kevin Hughes in a statement.

“By contrast, year-to-date starts in Ontario and British Columbia have decreased across all housing types. Despite the increase in housing starts in September, we remain well below what is required to restore affordability in Canada’s urban centres.”

The rate of starts for urban multi-unit projects such as apartments, condominiums and townhouses increased six per cent to 163,400 units, while the pace of starts of urban single-detached homes rose five per cent to 46,602.

The annual rate of rural starts was estimated at 13,806 units for September.

CMHC said the six-month moving average of the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts was 243,759 units in September, down from 246,972 in August.