Toronto Condo Starts Hit 30-Year High to Lead Canada Home Surge

(Bloomberg) -- Canadian housing starts surged in June to one of the highest levels over the past decade, driven by new condominium developments in Toronto that reached a 30-year high for the month.

Housing starts jumped 30 percent to an annualized 248,138 units, Canada Mortgage & Housing Corp. said Tuesday. Multiple-unit urban starts were up 46 percent, with a 231 percent increase in Toronto for that segment of the market.

The June numbers reveal a resiliency that continues to surprise policy makers and analysts, particularly since sales in some of the country’s priciest real estate markets have been cooling. Economists forecast annualized housing starts of 210,000 units in June, from 193,902 in May. Demand for condos seems to be high given low levels of inventory, the Ottawa-based housing agency said.

“The national inventory of newly completed and unabsorbed multi-unit dwellings has remained below its 10-year historical average so far in 2018, indicating that demand for this type of unit has absorbed increased supply,” Bob Dugan, CMHC’s chief economist said in a statement.

Montreal, Canada’s second largest city, also posted strong gains, with a 68 percent jump in annualized multiple-unit construction. Vancouver recorded declines last month.

In a separate report, Statistics Canada reported more evidence the market remains firm amid higher interest rates and stricter mortgage rules, with building permits for new Canadian homes reaching the second-high value on record in May.

--With assistance from Erik Hertzberg.

To contact the reporters on this story: Theophilos Argitis in Ottawa at targitis@bloomberg.net;Greg Quinn in Ottawa at gquinn1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Theophilos Argitis at targitis@bloomberg.net, Chris Fournier, Stephen Wicary

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