As predicted, the number of new housing starts in the Greater Toronto Area is dropping for the end of 2010. The Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) recorded 1,966 new home construction starts in October 2010. That represents a 45% drop compared to October 2009 and the lowest point of this year. However, strong numbers during this past spring ensured that the current year-to-date result is still 10% higher than that of the first ten months of 2009.
Getting over the hurdle
Source Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation
Housing start numbers for both single-detached homes and high-rise condominiums are in decline. While this was expected for single-detached homes, the drop in high-rise condos was a bit of a surprise. However, the number of existing projects progressing to the construction phase and good pre-cosntruction sales suggest that this housing sector will show at least steady numbers for the upcoming months.
Row housing was the bright star of the October statistics, continuing a twelve-month long record of growth; the starts were almost twice as high as in October 2009.
