Canada's housing starts dive 23% in May to lowest over 3 years

ISTANBUL

Housing starts in Canada plummeted 23% to 202,494 units in May to the lowest level in more than three years, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) figures released Thursday.

While the market expectation was for the figure to come in at around 235,000 units, housing starts stood at 261,357 units in April.

"The decline in housing starts is due to constraints in new construction, including labor shortages and higher construction and borrowing costs, which is considerably affecting multi-unit starts," CMHC's Chief Economist Bob Dugan said in a statement.

"Despite this, starts have only declined to the relatively high levels observed prior to 2020," he added.

Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal all recorded declines in total housing starts during the month of May, by 45%, 28% and 35%, respectively.