Feb. 10, 2014, Ottawa — Housing starts were down in January,
in line with the expectations of economists at the Canada Mortgage and
Housing Corporation (CMHC).
Starts were trending at 191,456 units in January, compared to
194,518 units in December. The trend is a six-month moving average of
the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR) of housing starts.
"The
trend in housing starts decreased slightly in January, while the
inventory of newly completed and unabsorbed units saw a modest downward
trend in the last half of 2013. This is consistent with our expectation
that builders will continue to gradually adjust activity in order to
manage their levels of inventory," said Mathieu Laberge, deputy chief
economist at CMHC.
The standalone monthly SAAR was 180,248 units in January, down from 187,144 units in December.
Multiple
urban starts decreased by six per cent to 102,289 units in January,
while the single-detached urban starts segment increased by 3.4 per cent
to 60,869 units.
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