August New Housing Investment Rises 2.4% YOY

October 28, 2016

Total investment in new housing construction rose 2.4% year over year to $4.7 billion in August.

The increase at the national level reflects higher investment in apartment building (+9.2% to $1.7 billion) and row house construction (+7.8% to $455 million).

In contrast, spending on single-family houses declined 2.1% year over year to $2.3 billion in August, following six consecutive months of year-over-year gains. Investment in semi-detached dwellings also decreased year over year, down 6.1% to $222 million in August.

At the provincial level, new housing investment rose in Ontario and British Columbia in August.

In August, investment in new housing construction in Ontario increased 18.4% from August 2015 to $2.0 billion. The gain was the result of higher spending in all four dwelling types, with investment in single-family dwellings and apartment buildings contributing the most to the advance in the province.

In British Columbia, spending on new residential dwellings rose 32.7% year over year to $1.1 billion in August, surpassing the $1-billion mark for the first time. The advance was mainly attributable to higher investment in apartment buildings and, to a lesser extent, single-family dwellings.

Conversely, Alberta and Quebec posted the largest declines among the remaining provinces.

In Alberta, new housing construction spending declined year over year for the 14th consecutive month, down 32.2% to $642 million in August. Lower investment in single-family dwellings and apartment buildings was responsible for most of the decrease.

In Quebec, spending totalled $581 million in August, down 14.3% from the same month in 2015. This was the second consecutive month of year-over-year decreases. Lower investment in single-family dwellings accounted for most of the decline in August.

Source: Statistics Canada, www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/161021/dq161021c-eng.htm.