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CMHC reports annual pace of housing starts down in December

Kelowna, B.C. data not included
The Canadian Press
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Charles Rochfort, left, and Jonathan Grenier work on a home as Quebec lifts the ban on residential construction due to the COVID-19 pandemic Monday April 20, 2020 in Deux-Montagnes, Que. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

OTTAWA — Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says the annual pace of housing starts in December fell compared with November.

CMHC says the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts for all areas in Canada, excluding Kelowna, B.C., fell 12.2 per cent in December from November.

The December survey was not conducted in Kelowna due to the pandemic.

The annual pace of urban starts fell 12.8 per cent in December as urban starts of apartments, condos and other types of multiple-unit housing projects dropped 15.1 per cent. Single-detached urban starts fell 5.5 per cent.

Rural starts were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 22,373 units.

Despite the drop in December, CMHC says the six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates of housing starts climbed to 239,052 units for the final month of 2020, up from 236,334 in November.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 18, 2021.