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June 18, 2024HOUSING STARTS, MAY 2024 Monthly (May 2024 vs April 2024, seasonally adjusted annualized rate)
Nova Scotia’s housing starts (seasonally adjusted annualized rate) totalled 8,716 units in May 2024. This was a 10.5% increase from the previous month. April 2024 housing starts in Nova Scotia were revised to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 7,887 units.
Housing starts in Halifax increased to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 6,375 units in May 2024, up 7.7% from 5,919 units in April 2024.
Outside of Halifax, housing starts increased to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 2,341 units in May 2024, up 19.0% from 1,968 units in April 2024.
Across Canada, housing starts rose to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 264,506 units in May 2024, up 9.7% from 241,111 units in April 2024.
Housing starts were up in 6 of 10 provinces last month, with the largest percentage increases in Prince Edward Island (+213.5%) New Brunswick (+96.2%). The largest percentage declines were in Manitoba (-58.2%) and Saskatchewan (-56.4%). Monthly housing starts can be volatile.
Year-over-year (May 2024 vs May 2023, seasonally adjusted annualized rate)
Nova Scotia's housing starts were up 55.7% compared with May 2023. Halifax housing starts were 207.2% above their level from May 2023. Housing starts outside the city were down 33.6% year-over-year. Across Canada, housing starts were up 34.7% year-over-year in May with gains in 8 provinces. Manitoba and Saskatchewan reported the only declines. Prince Edward Island reported the largest year-over-year rise in housing starts in May.
In unadjusted results for Halifax in May 2024, there were 526 housing starts and 75 completions. With starts outpacing completions again, the stock of units under construction rose to 10,778 units in Halifax, up 60.4% from the same month last year.
Year-to-date (January-May 2024 vs January-May 2023, seasonally adjusted annualized rate)
Over the first five months of 2024, Nova Scotia's housing starts were up 97.8% compared with the same period in 2023. Halifax starts were up 215.0% while starts outside the city decreased by 7.0%. Across Canada, year-to-date housing starts were up 10.5% with gains in 6 provinces. Nova Scotia reported the fastest percentage increase in year-to-date housing starts while Manitoba reported the steepest decline.
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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