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May 12, 2025HOUSING STARTS, MARCH 2025 **Release of detailed housing starts data were delayed for the March reference month**
Monthly (March 2025 vs February 2025, seasonally adjusted annualized rate)
Nova Scotia’s housing starts (seasonally adjusted annualized rate) totalled 7,705 units in March 2025. This was a 1.2% increase from the previous month's revised value of 7,613 starts.
Housing starts in Halifax declined to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 5,255 units in March 2025, down 7.9% from 5,706 units in February 2025.
Outside of Halifax, housing starts rose to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 2,450 units in March 2025, up 28.5% from 1,907 units in January 2025.
Across Canada, housing starts fell to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 214,155 units in March 2025, down 3.3% from 221,405 units reported in February 2025.
Housing starts were up in six provinces in March 2025, with the fastest percentage gain in Manitoba. Prince Edward Island reported the sharpest monthly decline in housing starts. (Note: monthly changes in seasonally adjusted annualized housing starts are often volatile).
Year-over-year (March 2025 vs March 2024, seasonally adjusted annualized rate)
Nova Scotia's housing starts were down 10.3% compared with the 8,594 unit pace set in March 2024. Halifax housing starts were down 17.2% from their rate in March 2024 (6,344). Housing starts outside the city were up 8.9% year-over-year from their pace in March 2024 (2,250). Across Canada, housing starts were down 11.6% year-over-year in March 2025 with gains in five provinces. New Brunswick and Saskatchewan reported (by far) the largest year-over-year gain in housing starts in March. Ontario and British Columbia reported the steepest declines in housing starts year-over-year.
In unadjusted results for Halifax in March 2025, there were 409 housing starts and 124 completions. The stock of units under construction rose to 11,251 units in Halifax from the previous month, up 13.8% from units under construction in the same month last year (9,884).
Year-to-date (January-March 2024 vs January-March 2025)
Nova Scotia housing starts have declined 16.4% in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the same period a year ago. Halifax housing starts have declined 19.3% in January-March 2025 compared to the same period a year ago, while housing starts in the rest of Nova Scotia declined 7.2%. Nationally, housing starts have declined 8.9% in the first three months of 2025, despite six provinces posting an increase in housing starts. Prince Edward Island and Saskatchewan posted the largest gains while Ontario posted the largest decline in housing starts.
Quarterly (Q1 2025 vs Q1 2024)
There were a total 1,771 housing starts in Nova Scotia in Q1 2025. This was down 17.9% from 2,158 in Q1 of 2024.
Starts for single detached dwellings declined 9.8% from 366 units in Q1 2024 to 330 units in Q1 2025.
Starts for multiple dwelling units also declined, falling by 19.6% from 1,792 in Q1 2024 to 1,441 starts in Q1 2025.
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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