8 May 2019

“The demand is still high, supported by stable demographic trends and a strong labour market.”

The general growth of housing starts was mostly driven by an increase of urban multiple-unit projects (condos, apartments and townhouses). The numbers rose by 29.6% to 175,732 last month.

In case of single-detached urban starts, the results were up by 6% and reached 44,655.

“As we see the strong signs of stabilization in at least certain major resale markets and the continuing strength in homebuilding (especially, in case of the multi-unit sector), it’s obvious that the real estate segment is heading towards a more neutral force in Canada’s economy, following a period of being a significant drag”, says Josh Nye, a senior economist at Royal Bank.