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CMHC reports annual pace of housing starts up in May

Jun 16, 2022 | 2:00 PM

OTTAWA – Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says the annual pace of housing starts in May was up eight per cent compared with April.

The national housing agency says the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts in May rose to 287,257 units compared with 265,734 in April.

The increase came as the pace of urban starts rose eight per cent to 264,162 units in May.

The annual rate of urban starts of apartments, condos and other types of multi-unit housing projects gained 13 per cent to come in at 201,193 units for the month, while the pace of single-detached urban starts fell four per cent to 62,969 units.

Rural starts were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 23,095 units.

The six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates of housing starts was 254,727 units in May, down from 257,833 in April.

In Red Deer, there were 17 housing starts in May, down from 20 in May 2021. There have been 48 this year, through May, with 77 in the same span last year.

However, housing completions are up this year, with 112 through May, compared to 57 last year.

Comparatively, in Calgary, starts were up in May with 1,577 this year, and 1,275 last year. Year-to-date, there have been 5,442 in that city, compared to 4,786 in 2021.

In Edmonton, there were 1,410 starts this past May, and 788 last May. Year-to-date, Edmonton has had 4,617 starts, with 3,810 in the first five months of 2021.

(with files from The Canadian Press-June 15, 2022)