Economy

Canadian Housing Starts and New Home Prices on the Rise
Written by Sandy Williams
March 13, 2014
Housing starts and new home prices both improved in early 2014. Canadian new home prices rose 0.3 percent in January following a 0.1 percent drop in December. The increase in the New Housing Price Index (NHPI) was the largest since May 2012.
Prices soared 1.3 percent in the Calgary metropolitan area due to higher material and labor costs and market conditions. Builders raised list prices in Saskatoon for the new calendar year. Winnipeg prices rose 0.5 percent in January after fluctuating between 0.0 and 0.2 percent in previous months. New home prices in Canada were unchanged in 7 of the 21 metropolitan areas surveyed.
The NHPI rose 1.5 percent on a year over-year basis with the main contributors Calgary, Toronto and Oshawa. Prices were up 7.0 year-over year in Calgary and the highest since 2007. New housing prices declined year-over-year in 5 of the 21 metropolitan areas surveyed.
Housing starts in Canada, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp (CHMC), increased in February, ending a declining trend but are expected to be flat in the long-term.
There were 11,097 housing starts in February for a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 192,094, up from 180,481 in January. Starts peaked in October and have declined slightly each month through January.
The strongest increase in housing starts was in urban multiple-dwellings which rose 13.3 percent to 116,458. Single family urban housing starts dropped 2.4 percent to 59,126 for the month. The seasonally adjusted annual rate for urban starts was up 7.5 percent to 175,584 in February.
CHMC estimates 187,300 housing starts in 2014, compared to 187,923 units in 2013.

Sandy Williams
Read more from Sandy WilliamsLatest in Economy
ISM: US Manufacturing Improved in September, But Still Contracting
US manufacturing activity improved in September, nearing a recovery, but remained in contraction territory, according to the Institute for Supply Management (ISM).

Ford of Canada Union Workers Ratify Three-Year Labor Pact
Ford of Canada union workers represented by Unifor ratified a new, three-year labor agreement on Sunday.

ABI Index Drops in August
August’s Architecture Billings Index (ABI) reading from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and Deltek showed a moderate decrease.

Beige Book: Economic Activity Appears Stable
The US Federal Reserve said that although overall economic activity was modest in July and August, per its latest Beige Book Report released on Sept. 6, the report was still slightly more optimistic than the previous one.
Dodge Momentum Declines in August on Tighter Lending
The Dodge Momentum Index (DMI) moved lower in August, driven by a slowdown in planning from tighter lending standards, according to the latest data from the Dodge Construction Network (DCN).