February 8, 2010

Carrick: January housing starts in Canada: 186,300 units

The combination of strong existing home sales, record-low mortgage rates and a reasonable level of consumer confidence resulted in a relatively high level of housing starts nationally in January 2010, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).

January 2010 was the second-highest level of starts in the past four months. October 2009 at 188,000 units was stronger by a slight degree. Prior to that, one has to go back to October 2008 (209,000 units) to find a level of starts that was higher.

The latest data set from CMHC includes some significant revisions to last year. The largest was for the aforementioned October 2009. The 188,000 units now reported for October 2009 has been revised upward from an original estimate of 164,000 units.

The most recent low point for housing starts in Canada occurred in April 2009 at only 119,000 units.

In the decade of the 1990s, housing starts in Canada averaged 150,000 units per year. In the ten years from 2000 to 2009, the annual average was 200,000 units.

However, that masks the seven-year strength from 2002 through 2008, during which the annual average level of Canadian housing starts was 222,000 units.

For the full year 2009, the official number is now 149,081 units.

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