Housing starts down

Construction on fewer homes got started last month, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).

In a news release, CMHC finds there were 2,436 housing starts in the Oshawa census metropolitan area – which also includes Clarington and Whitby – last month, down from the 2,852 seen in March.

“While new low-rise home starts in Oshawa remains strong thanks to strong demand originating from price weary buyers in Toronto, typical fluctuations in high rise starts dragged down total construction activity in April,” states Andrew Scott, CMHC’s senior market analyst for the GTA, in a news release.

The trend in Oshawa was seen across the province, with April seeing 70,135 housing starts across Ontario, down from 71,889 the month before.

“The Ontario residential construction trend moved lower in April and remains below its peak in January of 2016. The decline in April was due solely to the apartment sector where starts moved to a more sustainable longer-term level,” states Ted Tsiakopoulos, CMHC’s Ontario regional economist, in a news release.

“Overall, activity masks underlying strength in recent months for low-rise construction. Demand for single detached homes is supported by low mortgage rates, an undersupplied low-rise resale market and improving income growth. Meanwhile, households unable to afford a single detached home are opting for other ground oriented options such as row housing.”