Update: Canadian Housing Starts Drop to Meet CMHC Annual Forecast
July Canadian Housing starts in July dropped to 186.5K from a revised 215.9K in June (previously reported 217.8K) missing the consensus estimate of a drop to 210K. According to the Canada Morgage and Housing Corporation the decline which represents a 14.8% plunge in the annual rate of urban starts compared to June,was led by a 20.2% dive in urban multiples and a 6.6% drop in urban single starts. However according to CMHC the decline brings the annual rate of increase closer in line with the organization’s 2008 forecast of more than 200K housing starts for the 7th consecutive year.
The annual rate of decline in urban starts was led by Ontario down 38.8% the only province to register a decline in both single and multiple-unit urban starts. The Priaries were also down 1.6% overall. In Quebec urban starts were up 2.2%, up 2.4% in Atlantic Canada, and up 5.1% in BC. Single starts were down in all regions except the Atlantic region where they remained unchanged.
Y-o-y Canadian combined urban and rural starts have increased by an estimated 2.3% in the first seven months of 2008.