Housing starts increase in Windsor

Housing starts in the Windsor area were trending up in October, compared to September.

The trend is a six month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates of housing starts.

A report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) released on Monday warned that while foreign demand for Canadian housing has been boosted by the weak Canadian dollar, oversupply could mean pain in the months ahead, particularly in Canada’s largest city, Toronto, where condo construction has boomed. Actual year-to-date starts were nine per cent higher than last year’s levels. Projects such as condominiums and apartments fell 22.4 percent to 122,187 units and single-family homes rose 1.3 percent to 59,255 units.

Even with the October decline, housing starts have risen from a pace of 178,954 units at the end of past year, boosted by steady job gains and the lowest mortgage rates in decades. In a few situations analyzing only SAAR data can be misleading, as they are largely driven by the multi-unit segment of the market which can vary significantly from one month to the next.

The pace of new residential construction in Canada slowed down in October after a red-hot September, allaying to a few degree concerns of overbuilding in certain markets.

As Canada’s authority on housing, 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 advice to Canadian governments, consumers and the housing industry.

Rural starts were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 16,623 units.

Additional data is available upon request.