Hike new pointer to market revival, analyst says
Province
New-home construction in urban B.C. rose 15 per cent between September and October, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp says.
Housing starts in B.C.’s urban centres climbed to 16,100 in October on a seasonally adjusted annual rate from 14,000 in September, CMHC said yesterday.
Nationally, starts rose 5.4 per cent in October as the housing market continued to show signs of recovery. CMHC said that 157,300 units in rural and urban areas were started in October, on a seasonally adjusted rate, up from 149,300 in September.
Economists had expected housing starts to rise by between 155,000 and 158,800 units during the month.
“The improvement in housing starts in October is attributable to improvement in the multiple-starts segment,” Bob Dugan, CMHC’s chief economist, said. “Despite a small decline in single-home starts in October, the level of single-home starts remains at its second highest level since October 2008.”
Urban housing starts rose 5.2 per cent on an adjusted annual basis to 139,900 units last month, with multiple-unit construction jumping 13.8 per cent to 72,600 units. However, urban single-unit starts fell 2.7 per cent to 67,300 units in October.
Millan Mulraine, economics strategist at TD Securities, said the October report “adds to the growing list of indicators that have been pointing to a recovery in the Canadian housing market.”
He said that with home purchasing continuing to rise the recovery in residential construction should remain on track in the coming months.”
Urban starts rose 14.8 per cent in Ontario, 6.5 per cent in the Prairies and 1.2 per cent in the Atlantic region. Quebec saw urban starts fall 11.6 per cent.
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