CMHC says new home construction in September increased 14% from the previous month

Canadian housing construction, also known as new home construction, increased 14 per cent in September from the previous month — a faster-than-expected increase, National Housing Agency data showed Thursday.

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) said the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts was 279,234 units, up from a revised 244,543 units in August.

Economists had expected starts to rise to 255,000 units.

“Housing starts in September exceeded the six-month trend, driven by significantly higher monthly starts in Ontario, Quebec and the Prairie provinces,” CMHC Deputy Chief Economist Tania Bourassa-Ochoa said in a news release.

He said Montreal and Toronto were responsible for more than 25 per cent of total monthly starts nationally, mostly thanks to an increase in construction of new rental apartments.

“While these results indicate some resilience, it is worth noting that current housing start levels generally reflect decisions made months or even years ago when investor confidence was higher than today,” Bourassa-Ochoa said.

The increase came as the annual pace of housing starts for Canadian cities with a population of 10,000 or more increased to 254,345 in September, up 16 per cent from 219,408 in August.

The annual pace of rural starts was estimated at 24,889.