BRITISH COLUMBIA – The trend in housing starts was 199,655 units in June 2020, up from 197,063 units in May 2020, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). This trend measure is a six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR) of housing starts.
“The national trend in housing starts increased in June,” said Bob Dugan, CMHC’s chief economist. “This reflects higher multi-family starts in Toronto and Montreal following declines in these centres in recent months from COVID-19 measures. Housing starts continued to decline in most other centres in June, including Vancouver. We expect national starts to trend lower in the near term as a result of the negative impact of COVID-19 on economic and housing indicators.”
www.bcrea.ca
Looking at census metropolitan areas in BC:
Housing starts in Vancouver were down by 5 per cent m/m in June to 23,577 units SAAR. Multi-units were down by 9 per cent, while singles were up by 26 per cent. Compared to last year in June, housing starts were down by 43 per cent, which marks the third consecutive month of negative year-over-year growth.
In Victoria, housing starts were down by 23 per cent m/m to 2,342 units SAAR. Compared to a year ago in June, housing starts were down by 5 per cent.
In Kelowna, housing starts increased by 61 per cent m/m to 2,858. Starts were up by 1 per cent in the region compared to the same time last year.
Monthly housing starts in Abbotsford-Mission were up by 18 per cent at 590 units SAAR. Compared to the same time last year, new home construction was down by 25 per cent.
The standalone monthly SAAR of housing starts for all areas in Canada was 211,681 units in June, an increase of 8.3 per cent from 195,453 units in May. The SAAR of urban starts increased by 8.7 per cent in June to 196,675 units. Multiple urban starts increased by 13.0 per cent to 154,602 units in June while single-detached urban starts decreased by 4.5 per cent to 42,073 units.
Rural starts were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 15,006 units.
SOURCE Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation and BCREA
