The latest starts survey conducted by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) revealed that residential construction showed much slower growth in Quebec. In fact, after having posted gains ranging from 5 per cent to 33 per cent during the previous four months, housing starts edged up by just 1 per cent in August. CMHC enumerated 3,153 new dwellings in Quebec's urban centres (with 10,000 or more inhabitants) this past month, or only slightly more than the 3,110 units started in August 2006.
Single-detached home starts remained stable in August, with 1,066 new units, or 5 more than during the same month last year. Multi-family housing barely did better, as construction got under way on 2,087 new units, for a gain of 2 per cent over August 2006.
"This slowdown is not surprising and was even expected," said Kevin Hughes, Regional Economist at CMHC. "The current economic and demographic factors cannot support a strong growth in housing starts over the long term," explained Mr. Hughes.
While there may be a slowdown at the provincial level, not all areas are following the same trend. While Montréal maintained its momentum with a fifth consecutive monthly increase, Gatineau changed course and registered a decrease of 5 per cent, after having posted gains of more than 40 per cent in the previous three months. Sherbrooke, for its part, showed renewed growth after two declines in as many months, while Québec registered the opposite trend, with a decrease following two monthly increases.
The results for the first eight months of 2007 indicate that starts increased by 6 per cent in the province's urban centres, reaching just under 26,000 units. It should be noted that, after only eight months, the level of activity has already exceeded, by far, the annual volumes recorded in Quebec from 1995 to 2001.
Elsewhere across the country, several provinces registered declines in starts. Only Newfoundland and Labrador, Manitoba and Saskatchewan posted gains.
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) has been Canada's national housing agency for more than 60 years. CMHC is committed to helping Canadians access a wide choice of quality, affordable homes, while making vibrant, healthy communities and cities a reality across the country. For more information, visit http://www.cmhc.ca/ or call