Housing Starts Decline in July

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August 18, 2010

Down to Earth by Dick Rochester

Housing starts in Canada declined by 1.6 percent in July, Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation reported on Tuesday. From the level of 192,300 units in June, they fell to 189,200 units. New home construction is therefore currently at the lowest level in seven months.

There was an 11.3 percent decline, to 67,900, in single family dwellings' starts in July. On the other hand, multiple dwelling starts actually increased by 13.4 percent to 101,400 units. Out of the Canadian provinces, the most significant fall in housing starts', 14.8 percent, was seen in British Columbia. As for Ontario, a drop, the second one in a row, was reported too. Urban starts in the province went down by 2.6 percent from 52,500 units in June to 51,100 last month. Contrariwise, a 37.7 percent rise was reported in the Atlantic region.

Well, what can I say? The results are not good. They are quite bad really, but the situation still isn't catastrophic. Honestly, I don't think we could have expected anything much better than the figures we are now seeing.