Amid steadily increasing unemployment and an economy that has yet to show signs of significant recovery, housing starts across Canada have slowed by a considerable margin in January, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC).
Latest figures from the organization placed the annual rate of housing starts (seasonally adjusted) for the first part of the year at 165,861 units. In comparison, December saw 172,533 starts, which in itself was already an 18 per cent drop from November 2015.
The decline was observed in almost all provinces, and it accompanied a similar downturn in urban starts nationwide, which fell 3.0 per cent last month to 153,701 units.
“Housing starts trended down across the country with the exception of Ontario,” Bob Dugan of the CMHC told The Canadian Press, as quoted by the Huffington Post.
“The overall decline is mostly attributable to a slowdown in the Prairies where the housing starts trend was at a four-year low in January. The slowdown in new housing activity coincides with an unemployment rate that is at a five-year high in Alberta,” Dugan added.
