Housing starts for July 2024

OTTAWA, ON, Aug. 16, 2024 /CNW/ - The total monthly seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of housing starts for all areas in Canada increased 16% in July (279,509 units) compared to June (241,643), according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).

The six-month trend in housing starts increased 3.2% from 247,840 units in June to 255,783 units in July. The trend measure is a six-month moving average of the SAAR of total housing starts for all areas in Canada.

Housing Starts in Canada - All Areas (CNW Group/Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC))

Bob Dugan, Chief Economist for CMHC (CNW Group/Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC))

In Canadian urban centres with a population of 10,000 or greater, there have been 132,823 actual housing starts year-to-date (January – July) in 2024. This compares to 123,593 for the same time period in 2023, meaning actual housing starts are currently 7.5% higher in 2024.

Quote:

"Both the SAAR and Trend of housing starts increased in July. This was due to growth in actual year-over-year starts, driven by higher multi-unit starts, particularly in Calgary and Ottawa. As the national housing shortage continues, developers remain focused on multi-unit construction in Canada's major centres." said Bob Dugan, CMHC's Chief Economist.

Key Facts:

• The monthly SAAR of total urban (centres 10,000 population and over) housing starts was 17% higher at 261,134 units recorded. Multi-unit urban starts increased 21% to 217,306 units, while single-detached urban starts increased 2% to 43,828 units.
• The rural starts monthly SAAR estimate was 18,375 units.
• Actual year-to-date housing starts between January and July 2024 are up 47% in Montreal from the same period last year, showing some recovery from a historically low year for new home construction in 2023. In Vancouver, actual starts are down 18% in 2024 compared to 2023, but it's important to note that 2023 was a record year for new home construction in the region. In Toronto, actual year-to-date housing starts are down 9.5% when compared to the same period in 2023.
• Monthly Housing Starts and Other Construction Data are accessible in English and French on our website and the CMHC Housing Market Information Portal.
• Housing starts data is available on the eleventh business day each month. We will release the August housing starts data on September 17 at 8:15 AM ET.
• CMHC uses the trend measure as a complement to the monthly SAAR of housing starts to account for considerable swings in monthly estimates and to obtain a clearer picture of upcoming new housing supply. In some situations, analyzing only SAAR data can be misleading, as the multi-unit segment largely drives the market and can vary significantly from one month to the next.
• Definitions and methodology to better understand the foundations of the Starts and Completions and Market Absorption surveys.

As a trusted source of housing information, CMHC provides unbiased housing-related data, research, and market information to help close knowledge gaps, and deepen understanding of complex housing issues to inform future policy decisions. Housing starts facilitate the analysis of monthly, quarterly, and year-over-year activity in the new home market. The data we collect as part of our Starts and Completions and Market Absorption surveys helps us obtain a clearer picture of upcoming new housing supply and is used as part of our various housing reports.

CMHC contributes to the stability of the housing market and financial system, provides support for Canadians in housing need, and offers objective housing research and information to all levels of governments, consumers and the housing industry.

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Related Links:

• 2024 Rental Market Report
• CMHC 2023: Housing reports retrospective

Housing Start Data in Centres 10,000 Population and Over
		Single-Detached			All Others			Total
		July 2023	July 2024	%	July 2023	July 2024	%	July 2023	July 2024	%
Provinces (10,000+)
N.-L.		59	83	41	19	24	26	78	107	37
P.E.I.		21	46	119	51	151	196	72	197	174
N.S.		162	211	30	245	318	30	407	529	30
N.B.		103	151	47	298	217	-27	401	368	-8
Atlantic		345	491	42	613	710	16	958	1,201	25
Qc		442	450	2	2,263	2,515	11	2,705	2,965	10
Ont.		1,431	1,269	-11	6,861	7,698	12	8,292	8,967	8
Man.		139	152	9	646	488	-24	785	640	-18
Sask.		85	120	41	378	485	28	463	605	31
Alta.		1,146	1,469	28	2,220	2,883	30	3,366	4,352	29
Prairies		1,370	1,741	27	3,244	3,856	19	4,614	5,597	21
B.C.		434	396	-9	3,437	3,446	0	3,871	3,842	-1
Canada (10,000+)		4,022	4,347	8	16,418	18,225	11	20,440	22,572	10
Metropolitan Areas
Abbotsford-Mission		16	20	25	14	29	107	30	49	63
Barrie		55	36	-35	61	62	2	116	98	-16
Belleville - Quinte West		45	14	-69	4	10	150	49	24	-51
Brantford		24	23	-4	41	2	-95	65	25	-62
Calgary		542	625	15	1,079	1,846	71	1,621	2,471	52
Chilliwack		12	18	50	7	9	29	19	27	42
Drummondville		21	15	-29	33	209	##	54	224	315
Edmonton		443	706	59	1,029	902	-12	1,472	1,608	9
Fredericton		41	53	29	186	7	-96	227	60	-74
Greater/Grand Sudbury		35	2	-94	87	13	-85	122	15	-88
Guelph		8	8	-	185	107	-42	193	115	-40
Halifax		76	92	21	209	237	13	285	329	15
Hamilton		27	16	-41	33	299	##	60	315	425
Kamloops		0	3	##	0	21	##	0	24	##
Kelowna		32	36	13	56	390	##	88	426	384
Kingston		35	14	-60	368	11	-97	403	25	-94
Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo		60	27	-55	223	212	-5	283	239	-16
Lethbridge		27	8	-70	3	4	33	30	12	-60
London		82	35	-57	60	569	##	142	604	325
Moncton		30	46	53	97	167	72	127	213	68
Montréal		118	98	-17	854	669	-22	972	767	-21
Nanaimo		6	11	83	9	36	300	15	47	213
Oshawa		97	28	-71	67	43	-36	164	71	-57
Ottawa-Gatineau		137	162	18	779	1,098	41	916	1,260	38
Gatineau		47	42	-11	85	301	254	132	343	160
Ottawa		90	120	33	694	797	15	784	917	17
Peterborough		10	13	30	0	0	-	10	13	30
Québec		59	59	-	334	573	72	393	632	61
Red Deer		4	16	300	6	0	-100	10	16	60
Regina		25	25	-	10	121	##	35	146	317
Saguenay		17	19	12	246	23	-91	263	42	-84
St. Catharines-Niagara		46	66	43	101	85	-16	147	151	3
Saint John		17	32	88	4	27	##	21	59	181
St. John's		34	58	71	13	23	77	47	81	72
Saskatoon		54	88	63	308	358	16	362	446	23
Sherbrooke		22	19	-14	223	51	-77	245	70	-71
Thunder Bay		8	11	38	0	64	##	8	75	##
Toronto		472	502	6	4,728	5,021	6	5,200	5,523	6
Trois-Rivières		26	22	-15	129	38	-71	155	60	-61
Vancouver		211	187	-11	2,751	2,329	-15	2,962	2,516	-15
Victoria		31	24	-23	428	329	-23	459	353	-23
Windsor		27	56	107	23	130	465	50	186	272
Winnipeg		111	121	9	621	432	-30	732	553	-24
Total		3,143	3,414	9	15,409	16,556	7	18,552	19,970	8
Data for 2023 and 2024 based on 2021 Census Definitions.
Source: CMHC
## not calculable / extreme value

Housing Start Data - Seasonally Adjusted at Annual Rates (SAAR)
		Single-Detached			All Others			Total
		June 2024	July 2024	%	June 2024	July 2024	%	June 2024	July 2024	%
Provinces (10,000+)
N.L.		729	694	-5	389	274	-30	1,118	968	-13
P.E.I.		102	306	200	456	1,812	297	558	2,118	280
N.S.		1,960	1,886	-4	9,185	3,811	-59	11,145	5,697	-49
N.B.		929	1,174	26	4,084	2,511	-39	5,013	3,685	-26
Qc		3,800	4,030	6	42,146	31,052	-26	45,946	35,082	-24
Ont.		11,953	12,625	6	53,141	90,710	71	65,094	103,335	59
Man.		1,633	1,541	-6	6,756	5,856	-13	8,389	7,397	-12
Sask.		1,600	1,297	-19	2,604	5,820	124	4,204	7,117	69
Alta.		15,570	15,899	2	26,375	34,046	29	41,945	49,945	19
B.C.		4,828	4,376	-9	34,108	41,414	21	38,936	45,790	18
Canada (10,000+)		43,104	43,828	2	179,244	217,306	21	222,348	261,134	17
Canada (All Areas)		53,134	54,189	2	188,511	225,321	20	241,643	279,509	16
Metropolitan Areas
Abbotsford-Mission		149	296	99	348	348	-	497	644	30
Barrie		342	322	-6	456	744	63	798	1,066	34
Belleville - Quinte West		166	144	-13	96	120	25	262	264	1
Brantford		144	338	135	48	24	-50	192	362	89
Calgary		7,545	6,973	-8	14,964	22,152	48	22,509	29,125	29
Chilliwack		154	215	40	154	108	-30	1,402	323	-77
Drummondville		138	136	-1	1,020	2,508	146	1,158	2,644	128
Edmonton		6,949	7,638	10	8,856	10,824	22	15,805	18,462	17
Fredericton		254	420	65	516	84	-84	770	504	-35
Greater/Grand Sudbury		5	-76	##	0	156	##	5	80	##
Guelph		67	85	27	360	1,284	257	427	1,369	221
Halifax		685	837	22	8,340	2,844	-66	9,025	3,681	-59
Hamilton		177	157	-11	72	3,588	##	249	3,745	##
Kamloops		67	30	-55	72	252	250	139	282	103
Kelowna		320	416	30	6,864	4,680	-32	7,184	5,096	-29
Kingston		239	124	-48	84	132	57	323	256	-21
Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo		390	362	-7	6,456	2,544	-61	6,846	2,906	-58
Lethbridge		151	62	-59	180	48	-73	331	110	-67
London		743	332	-55	1,548	6,828	341	2,291	7,160	213
Moncton		212	303	43	2,364	2,004	-15	2,576	2,307	-10
Montréal		918	982	7	34,049	7,977	-77	34,967	8,959	-74
Nanaimo		179	166	-7	744	432	-42	923	598	-35
Oshawa		300	244	-19	2,568	516	-80	2,868	760	-74
Ottawa-Gatineau		2,126	1,589	-25	5,844	13,176	125	7,970	14,765	85
Gatineau		648	332	-49	1,284	3,612	181	1,932	3,944	104
Ottawa		1,478	1,257	-15	4,560	9,564	110	6,038	10,821	79
Peterborough		492	106	-78	288	0	-100	780	106	-86
Québec		593	537	-9	9,132	6,876	-25	9,725	7,413	-24
Red Deer		68	149	119	60	0	-100	128	149	16
Regina		315	234	-26	1,092	1,452	33	1,407	1,686	20
Saguenay		163	183	12	288	276	-4	451	459	2
St. Catharines-Niagara		542	683	26	396	1,020	158	938	1,703	82
Saint John		286	303	6	816	324	-60	1,102	627	-43
St. John's		642	551	-14	396	276	-30	1,038	827	-20
Saskatoon		1,110	999	-10	1,512	4,296	184	2,622	5,295	102
Sherbrooke		244	199	-18	2,328	612	-74	2,572	811	-68
Thunder Bay		65	72	11	72	768	##	137	840	##
Toronto		4,125	4,803	16	30,276	60,252	99	34,401	65,055	89
Trois-Rivières		122	207	70	960	456	-53	1,082	663	-39
Vancouver		2,951	2,165	-27	17,604	27,948	59	20,555	30,113	46
Victoria		280	271	-3	3,744	3,948	5	4,024	4,219	5
Windsor		474	516	9	3,660	1,560	-57	4,134	2,076	-50
Winnipeg		1,290	1,257	-3	6,588	5,184	-21	7,878	6,441	-18
Data for 2023 and 2024 based on 2021 Census Definitions.
Source: CMHC
## not calculable / extreme value

SOURCE Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC)

Information on this release: To request an interview with a CMHC economist, contact: Media Relations, CMHC, [email protected]