Canadian housing starts saw a significant increase in September, exceeding forecasts from TD (TSX:TD) Securities and demonstrating resilience despite higher interest rates. On Wednesday, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp reported that the seasonally adjusted annualized rate of housing starts rose to 270,466 units, marking an 8% growth from August. This figure surpassed TD Securities' anticipated 240,000 starts.
Urban multi-family units such as condominiums and row houses played a key role in this rise, surging by 10% to reach 207,689 units. This was the second highest monthly figure recorded this year. Similarly, single detached units saw a 3% rise to 43,077 units.
Regional variations were also observed in the data. Montreal and Toronto saw housing start growth of 98% and 20% respectively. In contrast, Vancouver experienced a decline of 17%.
Bob Dugan, chief economist for Canada's national housing agency, noted that robust multi-unit construction activity remains unimpeded despite prevailing higher interest rates.
In addition to the month-on-month figures, the six-month moving average of housing starts, a trend measure used by economists and analysts, advanced by 3.9% to reach a total of 254,006 units in September. This indicates sustained growth in the Canadian housing market over a longer period.
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