Housing starts slide in June

The seasonally adjusted rate of housing starts slipped to 225,500 units in June, down from 235,200 units in May. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.’s latest statistics indicate the seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts decreased 4.8 per cent to 192,600 in June compared to May.

Urban singles were up 2.1 per cent to 92,200 units in June, while multiples declined 10.4 per cent to 100,400 units.

Urban starts registered an increase of 12.8 per cent in Quebec, 6.8 per cent in the Atlantic, and three per cent in British Columbia, while they fell 5.8 per cent in the Prairies and 19.4 per cent in Ontario.

Ontario’s once red-hot housing construction market continued to its gradual decline as the province’s seasonally adjusted housing starts fell from 70,000 in May to 56,000 in June, CMHC reported.

In Toronto, it was a similar situation as seasonally adjusted starts fell from 38,000 in May to 28,000 in June.

Rural starts in Canada were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 32,900 units in June.

Actual starts, in rural and urban areas combined, were down an estimated 3.8 per cent in the first half of 2007 compared to the same period in 2006. Actual starts in urban areas alone were down an estimated 4.7 per cent.

Royal LePage Real Estate Services is forecasting Canada’s national average house price to rise by 9.5 per cent this year to $303,300, passing $300,000 for the first time. After a strong second quarter, robust conditions are expected to prevail through to year’s end as all regions are poised to experience a rise in average house prices.