Homebuilding rebounds quicker than expected
New home construction in Canada picked up in April, shaking off the effects of this year’s harsh winter, though economists still expect activity to cool gradually in 2014.
The seasonally adjusted annualized rate of housing starts rose to 194,809 in April, surpassing the estimated gain to 175,000, as reported by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. The remaining effects of the past winter's particularly harsh weather seem to have been diminished, and the spring market is in full swing.
Additional data shows that pricing on new homes has risen 0.2% in the month of March. Pricing is expected to grow slowly in 2014 and 2015. 11 of the 21 urban markets surveyed for this data reported no price increases. Canadian government officials are expecting gradual stabilization of the housing market.