Housing starts in largest cities increase in 2024's first half

In the first half of 2024, total housing starts in Canada's six largest census metropolitan areas (CMAs) grew by 4% and reached 68,639 units, up from 65,9505 during the same period in 2023.

The increase was largely driven by substantial gains in Calgary, Edmonton, and Montreal, according to the latest Housing Supply Report (HSR) from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). The report focuses on new housing construction trends in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal.

Developers continued to focus on multi-unit apartment buildings at historically high levels. Apartment starts, totaling 49,172 units in the first half of 2024, accounted for 72% of all new home construction in these six CMAs. Rental housing, which is supported by different government incentives, hit a record high, making up 47% of apartment starts and over one-third of total housing starts. Montreal saw a 106% surge in rental construction, with 7,192 new rental units, the highest among the six cities.

Additionally, developers prioritized clearing the backlog of projects under construction, which led to increases in apartment completions across the six CMAs, with all cities setting records except Montreal and Vancouver.

However, despite this progress, per-capita housing starts remained flat compared to the previous year, failing to keep pace with population growth and rising demand.

“The growth in actual starts observed in the first half of this year is encouraging, considering the tighter financing conditions and higher construction costs faced by homebuilders.

“With record low vacancy rates in Canada's largest cities, the increased investment by the private sector, leading to a rise in rental construction was much welcomed. However, per-capita housing starts remain a concern, as supply did not rise enough to keep pace with demand and improve overall affordability,” said Aled ab Iorwerth deputy chief economist for the CMHC.

CMP

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