Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says the annual pace of housing starts in February climbed 14 per cent compared with January.A condo is pictured in Montreal. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says the annual pace of housing starts in February climbed 14 per cent compared with January. The pace of new home construction climbed 14 per cent in February compared to the previous month, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said on Friday, but the industry continues to struggle under cost pressures.
Month-to-month starts can fluctuate significantly as the launch of larger multi-unit developments can skew numbers. Adjusted starts in February were up 79 per cent in Vancouver and down 31 per cent in Montreal. Housing starts in the first two months of the first quarter are below their fourth-quarter level and expected to go lower, Sondhi added, "suggesting some potential downward pressure on residential investment growth in the first quarter."TD Bank thinks that housing start figures will continue to decline as past weakness in home sales translates to fewer homes built, Sondhi said.