CMHC points to a slowdown in housing starts reported in February

According to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC), the annual pace of housing starts slowed down last month compared to January.

The report by CMHC shows that the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts was down from 284,372 to 245,922 in February.

Last month saw the annual pace of urban starts going down by 14% to 231,042 units. In case of apartments, condos and other multiple-unit projects, the starts fell by 15.8% to 163,757.

In addition to it, the sector of single-detached homes shows housing starts decrease by 9.3% to 67,285.

CMHC says the annual pace of rural starts is 14,880 units.

In February, we saw the six-month average of the seasonally adjusted housing starts falling from 244,963 to 242,777.

According to the latest findings by Urbanation, we are under building approximately 30,000 to 40,000 new units every year. Moreover, completion of new low-rise homes is on the constant decline over the last 20 years. Until we solve the supply issue there is no light at the end of the tunnel of price growth acceleration for the Canadian real estate market.