B.C. housing starts rise 6.3 per cent in April: CMHC

National numbers surge in spring
By Derek Abma

OTTAWA — Housing construction starts blew past expectations in April, according to data released Tuesday.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said there was a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 244,900 housing starts last month. That was up 14 per cent from the previous month, and well ahead of what the 204,000 economists polled by Bloomberg had been predicting.

"While unseasonably warm weather has been helping starts in recent months, April's return to more normal seasonal temperatures still saw home building soar," CIBC World Markets economist Emanuella Enenajor said in a research note.

"That's even with data on building permits pointing to some moderation in home-building intentions. That suggests that low (interest) rates remain the principal catalyst for continued robust construction activity in Canada."

Urban starts were up 18 per cent to an annual rate of 226,200, while the estimate on rural starts were down 19 per cent to 18,700.

Construction on multiple-housing units in urban areas drove the overall gains. They were up 27.4 per cent to a rate of 158,500. Urban singles saw a gain of 0.6 per cent to 67,700.

Regionally, there was a surge of 56.5 per cent in urban housing starts in Quebec. They were up 12.2 per cent in Ontario, 6.3 per cent in the Prairies and British Columbia, and 2.6 per cent in Atlantic Canada.