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September 18, 2024HOUSING STARTS, AUGUST 2024 Monthly (August 2024 vs July 2024, seasonally adjusted annualized rate)
Nova Scotia’s housing starts (seasonally adjusted annualized rate) totalled 4,105 units in August 2024. This was a 37.3% decrease from the previous month's revised value of 6,543.
Housing starts in Halifax slowed to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 2,720 units in August 2024, down 26.5% from 3,703 units in July 2024.
Outside of Halifax, housing starts decreased to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 1,385 units in August 2024, down 51.2% from 2,840 units in July 2024.
Across Canada, housing starts slowed to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 217,405 units in August 2024, down 22.3% the 279,804 unit pace reported in July 2024.
Housing starts were down in seven of ten provinces last month, with the largest percentage decrease in Prince Edward Island (-64.0%, following a sharp spike in July) . New Brunswick posted the most notable monthly increase in housing starts. (Note: monthly changes in seasonally adjusted annualized housing starts are often volatile).
Year-over-year (August 2024 vs August 2023, seasonally adjusted annualized rate)
Nova Scotia's housing starts were up 28.1% compared with August 2023. Halifax housing starts were 84.4% above their level from August 2023. Housing starts outside the city were down 19.9% year-over-year. Across Canada, housing starts were down 12.1% year-over-year in August with gains in five provinces. Newfoundland and Labrador reported the largest year-over-year rise in housing starts in August, while Saskatchewan and Prince Edward Island reported the fastest declines.
In unadjusted results for Halifax in August 2024, there were 204 housing starts and 236 completions. Housing starts typically slow in August in the unadjusted data. With completions outpacing starts, the stock of units under construction declined to 10,937 units in Halifax, though this was still up 51.7% from units under construction in the the same month last year (7,208).
Year-to-date (January-August 2024 vs January-August 2023, seasonally adjusted annualized rate)
Over the first eight months of 2024, Nova Scotia's housing starts were up 46.8% compared with the same period in 2023. Halifax starts were up 83.9% while starts outside the city decreased by 3.9%. Across Canada, year-to-date housing starts were up 4.3% with gains in six provinces. Newfoundland and Labrador reported the fastest percentage increase in year-to-date housing starts while Ontario and Saskatchewan reported the steepest declines.
Source: Statistics Canada, Table 34-10-0158-01 Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, housing starts, all areas, Canada and provinces, seasonally adjusted at annual rates, monthly (x 1,000) ; Table 34-10-0156-01 Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, housing starts in all centres 10,000 and over, Canada, provinces, and census metropolitan areas, seasonally adjusted at annual rates, monthly (x 1,000)
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