Canada’s annual pace of housing starts jumped by 10 per cent in May.
The seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts came in at 264,506 units.
That was compared to 241,111 units in April, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).
Chief Economist Bob Dugan said the increase followed two consecutive months of decline.
“This was due to growth in actual year-over-year starts, driven by significantly higher multi-unit starts, particularly in Montréal and Québec,” Dugan said in a news release.
“While this is good news for housing supply, we do expect downward pressure on starts through the rest of 2024.”
Figures provided by the corporation show the annual rate of urban starts increased 11 per cent to 246,111.
Multi-unit urban starts jumped 13 per cent to 203,141 units, while single-detached urban starts were up two per cent to 42,970 units.
The annual rate of rural starts was estimated to be around 18,395 units, according to the corporation.
Meanwhile, the six-month trend in housing starts saw a 3.8 per cent increase, from 238,859 units in April to 247,830 units in May.
May’s actual number of housing starts in urban centres was up 39 per cent to 21,652 units.
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