BRITISH COLUMBIA – Canadian housing starts rose to 301.3k units in November, reversing 5 months of consecutive declines. Housing starts were up by 62.9k (26.4 per cent m/m) in November at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate (SAAR). Comparing year-over-year, starts were up strongly from November of 2020 (15 per cent y/y). Single-detached housing starts dipped 1 per cent in November to 73.3k, while multi-family and others jumped 38.9 per cent to 228k (SAAR).
In British Columbia, starts were up 9.8 per cent in November, rising to 39.8k units SAAR in all areas of the province. In areas in the province with 10,000 or more residents, single-detached starts dropped 2.8 per cent m/m to 7.2k units while multi-family starts offset this drop with a 13.7 per cent rise to 28.5k units. Starts in the province were 20.1 per cent below the levels from November 2020. Starts were down by 2.2k units in Vancouver but were offset by a 3.6k unit rise in Kelowna in November. The 6-month moving average trend declined 1.3k in November in BC.