Canada Jan housing starts slow, but above estimates. Building permit issues rise 11.1% in Dec 2011. Policy makers still on alert for housing bubble due to rising prices and heavy low interest debt burden. Building permit values in Greater Victoria (BC) dropped, however. Analysts forecast soft landing this year. |

Tags

Canada December building permits, Canada January housing starts, Canadian housing market, canadian mortgage and housing corp, household credit, montreal gazette, Statistics Canada

Canada Jan housing starts slow, but above estimates

Jan housing starts fall to 197,900 units, above estimates
Multiple starts segment accounts for much of weakness
Urban starts fall 2.8 pct

OTTAWA, Feb 8 (Reuters) Canadian housing starts, although above expectations, declined in January from December. Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corp (CMHC) notes a slowdown in the multiple unit segment accounting for most of the weakness.

The seasonally adjusted annualized rate of housing starts was 197,900 units, compared with 199,900 units a month earlier. The December figure was revised down slightly from 200,200 units previously.

Canada’s hot housing market has put policymakers on the alert as rising prices and heavy borrowing by buyers at record-low rates raised fears of a housing bubble.

Bank of Canada has suggested some markets may be overvalued and is closely monitoring the situation along with the finance ministry and regulators.

Statistics Canada showed that December building permit values soared to a 4-1/2 year high due to Ontario condo market.

Most analysts forecast a soft landing this year as opposed to a U.S.-style housing crash.

Bank of Canada’s second in command, Tiff Macklem, noted that there household credit growth as slowed somewhat but repeats concerns that some borrowers were living beyond their means.

CMHC reports that the seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts fell by 2.8 percent to 176.600 units.

Multiple-unit urban starts, which include condominiums, eked out a 0.4 percent gain to 111,700 units.

Home construction decline in January Montreal Gazette
Pace of housing starts slowed in January: CMHC CTV.ca
Related articles »

Canada December Building Permits Report (Text) ‎Bloomberg – 1 day ago (Feb. 7, 2012)
‎Canada Building Permits Surge 11.1% In December‎ Fox Business
Condo strength propels Canada building permits jump‎ Reuters
Canadian building permits spike in December‎ CTV.ca
MNI News
all 75 news articles »

Building permits plummet HST uncertainty, economic woes blamed for slumping construction

By Andrew A. Duffy, Times Colonist February 8, 2012 3:07 AM

The total value of building permits issued in Greater Victoria dropped by more than $120 million last year as homebuilders waited out the harmonized sales tax and the non-residential construction sector waited for the overall economy to improve.

Figures released by Statistics Canada showed the region saw $648 million worth of building permits issued last year, down from $769 million in 2010.

The value of residential permits dropped to $427 million from $497 million in 2010, while non-residential permits amounted to $221 million, down from $274 million in 2010.

In December, Victoria saw a total of $32.5 million in building permits – $21 million in residential and $11 million in non-residential – down 26 per cent from the $43.8 million in November and down 58 per cent from December 2010.