Investment in New Housing Construction Rises 5.9% YOY in July

September 28, 2016

The value of investment in new housing construction totalled $4.5 billion in July, up 5.9% from the same month in 2015.

The advance at the national level was attributable to higher spending on apartment and apartment-condominium building construction (+13.1% to $1.6 billion), single-family dwelling construction (+1.8% to $2.3 billion) and row house construction (+8.8% to $425 million).

In contrast, investment in semi-detached dwellings declined year over year for the 15th consecutive month, down 3.4% to $233 million in July.

At the provincial level, Ontario and British Columbia were the only provinces to record gains (see table below).

In Ontario, investment in new housing construction rose 24.8% year over year to $1.9 billion in July. The increase resulted from higher spending on all four dwelling types, with single-family dwellings, and apartment and apartment-condominium buildings accounting for most of the gain.

In British Columbia, spending on new residential construction totalled $976 million, up 33.7% compared with the same month a year earlier. While investment in all four dwelling types contributed to the advance, higher spending on apartment and apartment-condominium building construction was responsible for much of the increase.

Alberta recorded the largest decline in spending on new residential dwelling construction in July, followed by Quebec, a distant second.

In Alberta, investment fell 30.3% year over year to $634 million in July. This marked the 13th consecutive monthly decline. The decrease was mainly attributable to lower investment in single-family dwellings, and apartment and apartment-condominium buildings.

In Quebec, spending on new housing construction totalled $649 million in July, down 7.3% from July 2015. The decline followed seven consecutive months of year-over-year advances. Lower investment in single-family dwellings was mainly responsible for the decrease, which was moderated by a 46.8% gain in spending on row house construction.

Source: Statistics Canada, http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/160921/dq160921c-eng.htm.