{"id":429611,"date":"2026-04-17T19:40:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T12:40:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swingfish.trade\/blog\/market-news\/2026\/04\/canada-march-housing-starts-235-9k-vs-255-0k-expected\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T19:40:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T12:40:07","slug":"canada-march-housing-starts-235-9k-vs-255-0k-expected","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swingfish.trade\/blog\/market-news\/2026\/04\/canada-march-housing-starts-235-9k-vs-255-0k-expected\/","title":{"rendered":"Canada March housing starts 235.9K vs 255.0K expected"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<ul>\n<li>Prior was 250.9K<\/li>\n<li>Single-detached homes- 4% m\/m<\/li>\n<li>Multiple starts -3% m\/m<\/li>\n<li>Seasonally adjusted starts -3%<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u201cMarch housing starts data point to a continued loss of momentum in<br \/>\nhousing construction, broadly in line with CMHC\u2019s housing market<br \/>\noutlook. While actual starts increased compared to a year ago, this<br \/>\nlargely reflects the exceptionally low level of construction activity in<br \/>\n the first quarter of last year,\u201d said Mathieu Laberge, CMHC\u2019s Chief Economist and Senior Vice\u2011President, Housing Insights.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">Housing starts data in Canada is published monthly by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) through its Starts and Completions Survey. The data tracks the beginning of construction on new residential dwellings \u2014 both single-detached and multi-unit \u2014 across urban centres with populations of 10,000 or more, with rural areas estimated separately. CMHC reports both the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) and a six-month trend measure, the latter designed to smooth out the significant month-to-month volatility that characterizes multi-unit construction activity. The data is released on the eleventh business day of each month and is widely used by policymakers, the Bank of Canada, and the housing industry to assess the trajectory of new supply.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">Canada recorded 259,028 total housing starts in 2025, up 5.6% from 2024 and the fifth-highest annual total on record, driven by record levels of rental apartment construction. However, momentum faded through the second half of the year, with the six-month trend declining for four consecutive months into January 2026.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">In January 2026, the SAAR dropped 15% to 238,049 units from 280,668 in December, while the trend fell 3.5% to 254,794 units. February brought a partial rebound, with the SAAR rising 4.5% to 250,900 units and the trend essentially flat at 256,005. Actual starts in urban centres were up 10% year-over-year in February, with Vancouver posting a 60% increase and Montreal up 18%, while Toronto declined 28%. CMHC has cautioned that elevated construction costs, business uncertainty, and weakening condominium presale activity are expected to weigh on starts through 2026 and beyond.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">Yesterday, the Canadian Real Estate Association <a href=\"https:\/\/www.crea.ca\/media-hub\/news\/canadian-home-sales-activity-little-changed-in-march\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">downgraded <\/a>its housing market forecast, in large part due to the oil price and rate spike on the war in Iran.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">\u201cHome sales activity remained at lower levels in March, as rising global<br \/>\n economic uncertainty, along with a mid-month jump in fixed mortgage<br \/>\nrates tied to incoming higher inflation, piled on to an already shaky<br \/>\neconomic start to the year,\u201d said Shaun Cathcart, CREA\u2019s Senior<br \/>\nEconomist. \u201c2026 is still expected to see a modest amount of upward<br \/>\nmomentum in sales and a stabilization in prices as some pent-up<br \/>\nfirst-time buyer demand enters the market, but the forecast for the year<br \/>\n has had to be revised downward. The timing of higher mortgage rates,<br \/>\nalong with the perception they may be temporary, could keep would-be<br \/>\nbuyers away at the most active time of year \u2013 April, May, and June \u2013 as<br \/>\nthey wait for rates to come back down.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>                            This article was written by Adam Button at investinglive.com.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Prior was 250.9K Single-detached homes- 4% m\/m Multiple starts -3% m\/m Seasonally adjusted starts -3% \u201cMarch housing starts data point to a continued loss of momentum in housing construction, broadly in line with CMHC\u2019s housing market outlook. While actual starts increased compared to a year ago, this largely reflects the exceptionally low level of construction [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":216,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[86],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-429611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-market-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swingfish.trade\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/429611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swingfish.trade\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swingfish.trade\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swingfish.trade\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/216"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swingfish.trade\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=429611"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.swingfish.trade\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/429611\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swingfish.trade\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=429611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swingfish.trade\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=429611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swingfish.trade\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=429611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}