Canadian housing starts were down 9% in June. Whats behind the drop – National [Video]

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says the annual pace of housing starts in June fell nine per cent compared with May.

The housing agency said the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts in June amounted to 241,672 units, down from 264,929 in May.

“The higher interest rate environment appears to have caught up with some of Canada’s major centres as lower multi-unit starts, particularly in Vancouver and Toronto, drove both the (seasonally adjusted annual rate) and trend down in June,” said CMHC chief economist Bob Dugan in a press release.

“While strong starts growth in June and the first half 2024 in Calgary, Edmonton, and Montreal mitigated some of these decreases, we expect continued downward starts pressure across Canada throughout 2024.”

Non-seasonally adjusted housing starts were markedly lower in two of Canada’s three major cities compared with June 2023, with Toronto down 60 per cent and Vancouver down 55 per cent.

However, Montreal housing starts rose 226 …