Housing Starts Fall 16% In August, Pointing To Construction Slowdown

August represented one of the weaker months this year for housing starts, according to the latest data from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). At the national level, the total monthly seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of starts fell 16% last month, compared to a 4% increase in July.

This marks the largest SAAR decline so far this year and puts the metric well below the six-month trend in housing starts, which increased 1.6% to 267,259 units in August. CMHC’s Deputy Chief Economist, Kevin Hughes, says this gap is notable. "If sustained, this adjustment in the level of housing starts would be consistent with both our forecast and current market intelligence indicating a slowdown in the pace of housing construction."