Multiple-unit starts in B.C. spark September rebound in new-home construction

The Vancouver Sun- B.C.’s residential housing construction continued to rebound in September with another boost in new-home starts as starts continued to slow on a nationwide basis, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. reported Friday.

Builders started work on 2,305 new homes in B.C. in September, bringing the province’s total starts to 17,791 for the first nine months of 2010, a 91-per-cent increase from the same period of 2009. However, September’s starts, extrapolated over 12 months, raised the pace of construction to 26,500 units on what economists call the seasonally adjusted annual rate…

Multiple-unit starts in B.C. spark September rebound in new-home construction

Housing weakness expected to be a drag on growth

Financial Post- Canada’s housing market helped lift the economy in the early part of the recovery but will now act as a drag on growth, with starts falling for two straight quarters and expected to continue to fall in the months ahead, economists say.

Canada Mortgage and Housing reported Friday housing starts declined 1.5 per cent in September from the previous month, bringing the seasonally adjusted annual rate to 186,400 units in September.

Analysts had called for a bigger drop in starts, to 179,000.

Starts have now fallen for four of the past five months, leading to two straight quarters of overcall declines.

"After helping to support the rebound in real GDP growth over the last year, residential investment is likely to be a drag on economic growth through the second half of this year," said Diana Petramala, an economist at TD Economics…

Housing weakness expected to be a drag on growth

Home sales rebound, but it won’t last long, analyst says

Times Colonist- Existing home sales in Canada rebounded in August, but the industry consensus is both prices and activity will decline the rest of this year. The only argument is by how much.

The Canadian Real Estate Association reported yesterday that August sales were up 4.1% on a seasonally adjusted basis from July — a bad month for home sales because of the effects of the harmonized sales tax implementation in Ontario and British Columbia. As consumers scrambled to make their home purchases ahead of the July 1 HST deadline, June figures saw a boost, but July sales withered…

Home sales rebound, but it won’t last long, analyst says

Canadian home sales fall 2.6 per cent in April as market cools down

Vancouver Sun- The Canadian housing market is cooling, but the decline will be moderate, thanks to the rebound in the labour market, economists say.

Canadian home sales fell 2.6 per cent in April from the previous month, with residential sales totaling 52,042 units last month, 6.8 per cent below the peak reached in December 2009, the Canadian Real Estate Association said Monday.

Listings, meanwhile, rose to 99,901 homes newly being put up for sale, a record for the month of April that suggests balance is returning to what had been a sellers’ market.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the months of housing inventory available rose to 5.3 months, the highest level since last May.

"Canada’s housing market has gone from full gallop to stately canter and is poised to slow to a leisurely trot in the months ahead," said Bank of Montreal deputy chief economist Douglas Porter…

Canadian home sales fall 2.6 per cent in April as market cools down

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