Latest news with #housingstarts
CBC
a day ago
- Business
- CBC
Ontario housing starts are at lowest level since 2009: financial watchdog
Social Sharing Ontario's housing starts for the first quarter of this year were at the lowest levels since 2009, the province's financial accountability officer said in a report Wednesday. The FAO's economic monitor report said the latest economic indicators are largely positive, with employment, retail and wholesale trade, manufacturing sales and exports all seeing gains, but there is "significant weakness" in the housing sector. In the first quarter of 2025, construction started on 12,700 housing units, which financial accountability officer Jeffrey Novak said is the lowest level since 2009. That's down 20 per cent from the first quarter of 2024, a year that also saw relatively low levels of housing starts. "Home building has been negatively affected by high construction costs and weak sales as households continue to face housing affordability challenges," Novak wrote. The government set a goal of getting 1.5 million new homes built over 10 years, by 2031, but the province is not currently on track to meet that target. WATCH | What Ontario's new budget housing projections mean for the future: Ontario budget forecasts fewer housing starts in 2025 27 days ago Duration 3:57 According to Ontario's new budget, housing starts in 2025 are projected to be around 2,800 units lower than in 2024. Alex Beheshti, senior researcher at Missing Middle Initiative, discusses what the projections mean for the future of homes in the province. A spokesperson for Housing Minister Rob Flack said several billion dollars in infrastructure funds are expected to help. "While we've made progress, we face challenges beyond our control — global economic uncertainties, supply chain disruptions, and with President Trump's tariffs and tariff threats, it is not business as usual," Alexandra Sanita wrote in a statement. "We are continuing to take bold action to get more shovels in the ground and build more homes, faster, by streamlining development processes, lowering costs, and reducing delays." As well, there were 36,300 home resales in the first quarter of 2025, the lowest non-recessionary level since mid-2000, the FAO report said. "The decline likely reflects uncertainty related to the threat of U.S. tariffs, which has increased consumer concerns about job security and personal finances," Novak wrote in the report. Ontario heading in wrong direction: opposition NDP finance critic Jessica Bell said the report shows Ontario is heading in the wrong direction when it comes to housing. "The premier needs to get serious about making housing more affordable," Bell wrote in a statement. "That means investing in building non-profit housing on public land, easing zoning rules to speed up construction, and bringing in strong rent control. In the middle of a trade war, we need to be strengthening Ontario and build homes that people can actually afford — not regressing to where we were more than a decade ago." Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner said the government has "completely abandoned Ontarians." "Across the province, families are struggling to make ends meet and homelessness is skyrocketing," he wrote in a statement. "Yet this government continues to pour money into wasteful projects like the tunnel under the 401, instead of investing in what people actually need: affordable homes in the communities they want to live in." The government's spring budget projected 71,800 housing starts in total for 2025, down sharply from the projection of 92,300 for this year in the last budget.
CTV News
15-05-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Annual pace of housing starts in April up 30 per cent from March: CMHC
New homes are constructed in Ottawa on Monday, Aug. 14, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick OTTAWA — Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says the annual pace of housing starts in April rose 30 per cent compared with March. The national housing agency says the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts for April was 278,606 units, up from 214,205 in March. The annual pace of urban housing starts rose 28 per cent in April to 259,788 compared with 202,668 units in March. CMHC says actual urban housing starts in April were up 17 per cent year-over-year at 21,720 compared with 18,539 in April 2024. The annual pace of rural starts was estimated at 18,818. The six-month moving average of the overall seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts was 240,905 in April, up 2.4 per cent. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 15, 2025.
Globe and Mail
15-05-2025
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Annual pace of housing starts in Canada up 30% in April from March
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says the annual pace of housing starts in April rose 30 per cent compared with March. The national housing agency says the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts for April was 278,606 units, up from 214,205 in March. The annual pace of urban housing starts rose 28 per cent in April to 259,788 compared with 202,668 units in March. CMHC says actual urban housing starts in April were up 17 per cent year-over-year at 21,720 compared with 18,539 in April 2024. The annual pace of rural starts was estimated at 18,818. The six-month moving average of the overall seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts was 240,905 in April, up 2.4 per cent.
CTV News
15-05-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Annual pace of housing starts in April up 30 per cent from March: CMHC
New homes are constructed in Ottawa on Monday, Aug. 14, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick OTTAWA — Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says the annual pace of housing starts in April rose 30 per cent compared with March. The national housing agency says the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts for April was 278,606 units, up from 214,205 in March. The annual pace of urban housing starts rose 28 per cent in April to 259,788 compared with 202,668 units in March. CMHC says actual urban housing starts in April were up 17 per cent year-over-year at 21,720 compared with 18,539 in April 2024. The annual pace of rural starts was estimated at 18,818. The six-month moving average of the overall seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts was 240,905 in April, up 2.4 per cent. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 15, 2025.
