New home starts rise across Canada

July 22, 2021

Multi-family dominates new housing starts. | Adera

Even as the resale market slowed, the housing starts trend showed a seasonal increase in housing starts in June.
The trend in starts was 293,567 units in June 2021, up from 284,837 units in May 2021, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).
Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal registered particularly strong growth in total seasonally-adjusted starts in June—driven by the multi-family segment—according to CMHC chief economist Bob Dugan.
However, actual starts—measured at the time building foundations are started—for all areas in Canada was 282,070 units in June, a decrease of 1.5 per cent from 286,296 units in May. Urban starts decreased by 1.8 per cent in June to 251,190 units. Multiple urban starts increased by a slight 0.6 per cent to 191,085 units in June while single-detached urban starts decreased by 8.5 per cent to 60,105 units.
Rural starts were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 30,880 units in June.
Starts could trend much higher in the months ahead—if Vancouver is any indication.
Housing starts in Metro Vancouver increased more than 50 per cent in the first half of 2021 compared to the same period last year, according to CMHC.
A total of 15,294 units got underway between January and June of this year.
The increase was led by multi-family construction, which climbed 65 per cent from the first half of 2020 to 13,786 units, or 90 per cent of the total, CMHC reported July 16.
Developer Beedie Living alone said it plans to break ground on nearly 1,000 new multi-family units in 2021 in three suburban areas of Metro Vancouver.