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
Steel groups welcome passage of budget bill
Steel trade groups praised the passage of the Big Beautiful Bill (BBB) in Congress on Thursday.
Industry groups praise Senate for passing tax and budget bill
The Steel Manufacturers Association and the American Iron and Steel Institute applauded the tax provisions included in the Senate's tax and budget reconciliation bill.
Chicago PMI dips 0.1 points in June
The Chicago Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) slipped 0.1 points to 40.4 points, in June.
Multi-family pullback drives housing starts to 5-year low in May
US housing starts tumbled in May to a five-year low, according to figures recently released by the US Census Bureau.
Architecture firms still struggling, ABI data shows
Architecture firms reported a modest improvement in billings through May, yet business conditions remained soft, according to the latest Architecture Billings Index (ABI) release from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and Deltek.