The modest recovery in housing starts, observed at the start of 2024, already seems to be running out of steam, with two consecutive months of decline, compared to the same periods last year.
At least that’s what data from the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) and the Association of Construction and Housing Professionals of Quebec (APCHQ) published Wednesday show.
Thus, in Quebec, 3,342 housing starts – all housing combined – were recorded in September 2024, a decrease of 10% compared to September 2023. “This is particularly worrying considering that 2023 represented the second worst drop in housing starts since 1955,” said the APCHQ in a press release.
Apartment starts saw the biggest drop (-11%), followed closely by those of detached houses (-9%), while starts of semi-detached or row houses increased by 5%.
These decreases in the province are partly explained by construction starts in the city of Montreal, which saw a drop of 82% in September 2024 compared to the same month last year. As for the city of Laval, a decrease of 41% was also observed in September compared to 2023.
Generally speaking, the Montreal CMA experienced a drop of 59%, going from 2,682 housing starts in September 2023 to 1,111 in September 2024.
In the Quebec CMA, a slight decrease (-6%) was also recorded.
Conversely, the CMA of Sherbrooke (+150%), that of Saguenay (+82%), Drummondville (+64%) and Gatineau (+42%) experienced increases in construction starts in September 2024 .
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