Toronto housing starts rebounded in January
By Lucas on Feb 08, 2017
The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) released its housing starts figures for January 2017, announcing that starts trended at 199,834 units, which is a slight increase from the 197,881 in December 2016. The trend is a six month moving average of seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR).
“New home construction started off strong in 2017, both in terms of single-detached homes and multi-unit residential,” says Bob Dugan, CMHC Chief Economist. “While Ontario starts continue to drive the national trend upwards, construction has slowed in BC since last July when it reached a near record high. This slowdown can be partly attributed to builders focusing on projects still underway.”
The standalone monthly SAAR stayed steady at 207,408 units, up slightly from December’s 206,305. The monthly SAAR of urban starts increased 1% to 189,688 units. Multiple urban starts went up 4.2% to 125,886 units while single detached starts fell 4.6% to 63,802.
The only areas to see an increase in housing starts last month was Ontario and Atlantic Canada. The Prairies, Quebec, and British Columbia experienced declines. Rural starts are estimated at 17,720 units.
Toronto housing starts
Emerald City construction
In the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area (CMA), housing starts trended at 39,465 units, compared to 37,285 in December. The standalone monthly SAAR was 52,941 units, a big jump from 34,477 at the end of 2016.
As usual, the City of Toronto saw the most starts. “The total housing starts trend rebounded in January due to higher apartment starts,” says Dana Senagama, CMHC’s Principal Market Analyst for the GTA. “High demand and limited supply in the resale market continue to lead homebuyers to opt for new homes.”
Mississauga had the second most housing starts thanks to many new apartments. Brampton and East Gwillimbury followed closely with mostly ground oriented products in the works.
There has been some talk of a shortage of supply in the new high-rise market, so maybe developers are already responding to the strong demand by starting construction and focusing efforts on future projects and phases.
