CMHC says annual pace of housing starts, excluding Quebec, down in May

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says the annual pace of housing starts, excluding Quebec, in May fell 20.4 per cent compared with April.

Excluding Quebec, the annual pace of housing starts fell to 132,576 in May, compared with 166,477 in April.

The housing agency did not conduct its monthly starts and completion survey in Quebec in April following the introduction of pandemic measures in late March that brought construction in the province to a halt.

It says home construction in Quebec resumed on April 20, and it resumed the survey in the province in May.

Rural starts in May were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 7,772 units, excluding Quebec.

The six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates of housing starts,excluding Quebec, was 151,072 units in May, down from 155,600 units in April.