Canada housing

Home construction increased by a great-than-expected 12.1% in August, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., as the country's housing market continued to rebound.

The federal agency said housing starts increased to 150,400 units in August from 134,200 units the previous month.

Most economists had expected housing starts to increase to about 139,000 units in August.

"Housing starts are trending higher, reflecting improvements in both the single and multiple segments," said Bob Dugan, CMHC's chief economist. "The improvement in housing starts is consistent with our expectation of a stronger second half for 2009."

CMHC said the seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts rose 14% to 131,800 units in August. Multiple-unit construction rose 23.8% to 77,600 units, while the single-unit sector gained 2.5% to 54,200 units.

Overall, urban construction was up 56% in British Columbia, 16.1% in the Prairies, 13.8% in Ontario, 9.6% in Atlantic Canada, and 2.5% in Quebec.

Rural starts were unchanged in August at 18,600 units.

"This was undoubtedly a strong report, and it indicates that some momentum is perhaps beginning to build in the new homes market, thereby complementing the dramatic turnaround seen in the existing homes market recently," said Millan Mulraine, economics strategist at TD Securities.

"However, while we believe that the recent gains in new residential construction may be sustainable, we are unlikely to see further sharp advances in the pace of construction, particularly given the weak economic backdrop and soft labour market conditions.

"In fact, we expect the level of residential starts to remain in the current range in the coming months."

(Source: Financila Post/National Post)

TABLE -- Housing starts in August:

Total 150,400

Canada, rural areas 18,600
Canada, urban centres 131,800
Canada, singles, urban centres 54,200
Canada, multiples, urban centres 77,600
Atlantic region, urban centres 8,000
Quebec, urban centres 41,000
Ontario, urban centres 42,000
Prairie region, urban centres 23,800
British Columbia, urban centres 17,000


(Source: CMHC)