Canadian housing starts surged to the highest level in more than a year in June, led by construction of multiple-family dwellings such as condos and row houses.
In another sign of recovery for the nation’s real estate market, builders started work on an annualized 245,657 units last month, a jump of 25% from May, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. reported. Multiple unit starts rose 31% on the month to 189,200, CMHC said.
The increase in national housing starts was “primarily due to higher trending row and apartment starts in urban areas,“ Bob Dugan, CMHC’s chief economist, said in a statement. Home building was 36% higher in Ontario, and up 12% each in British Columbia and Quebec, the agency reported. It surged 43% in Alberta.
In a separate release Tuesday, Statistics Canada reported residential building permits fell 17% in May. More housing data is in the offing, with Statistics Canada’s New Housing Price Index for May out Thursday and Canadian Real Estate Association data on existing home sales due Monday.