The annual pace of housing starts fell 11 per cent in March from February, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation said Wednesday. The fall was much more pronounced in Quebec.
According to the agency, the seasonally adjusted and annualized monthly number of housing starts across Canada stood at 213,865 units in March, after having reached 240,927 in February. The six-month moving average of seasonally adjusted annualized housing starts was 240,669 units in March, down 6% from February’s 254,658.
In Quebec, the Association of Construction and Housing Professionals identified 1,799 housing starts in March.
In seasonally adjusted and annualized data, the number of housing starts for the month of March was 27,003, compared to 38,788 in February. This is a decrease of 30% compared to February and 55% compared to March 2022. We are talking about a seventh consecutive monthly decline.
In March, foundations were laid for only 224 single-family homes in Quebec, which represents a drop of 54%. The decline is just as pronounced for multi-unit housing, with 1,575 housing starts, a decrease of 55% compared to March 2023.
Geographically, there are significant declines in five of the province’s seven census metropolitan areas. Gatineau (-74%), Quebec (-68%), Saguenay (-59%) and Montreal (-57%) all recorded decreases of more than 50% last month, adds the APCHQ.
“The rise in interest rates is hitting new construction hard and the decline is particularly marked in the rental segment. With a vacancy rate of only 1.7% province-wide last October and growing needs due to the spectacular increase in net migration, the situation is far from favorable as the 1er July”, notes the director of the economic service of the APCHQ, Paul Cardinal.
With Duty