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March 10, 2020HOUSING STARTS, FEBRUARY 2020 
Nova Scotia's housing starts (seasonally adjusted annualized rate) increased by 186.6 per cent, up from 2,933 in January to 8,406 in February. Compared to February 2019, Nova Scotia housing starts were up 121.5 per cent. The seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 8,406 housing starts in February is the highest level since October of 2012.
Housing starts were up 339.7 per cent in Halifax from 1,319 in January to 5,800 in February. Halifax starts were up 99.7 per cent compared to February 2019.
Outside Halifax, Nova Scotia's housing starts were up 61.5 per cent from 1,614 in January to 2,606 in February. Compared to February 2019, housing starts outside Halifax were up 192.5 per cent.
The six-month moving average of housing starts in Nova Scotia and Halifax show similar trends. There were increases in starts, particularly among multiple unit dwellings in the summer of 2018 and the summer of 2019. These starts then faded towards the end of the year. The trends outside Halifax are different, with a rise in starts in the first half of 2018 followed by a decline over the next year. Since then, housing starts outside Halifax have been rising.
In urban areas, housing starts for multiples are generally higher than for singles with greater variability month-to-month. The six-month moving average for singles increased in the summer of 2018 and in the summer of 2019. The pace of multiple starts in urban areas has been more volatile, with peaks in summer of 2018 and summer of 2019.
Nationally, housing starts were down 1.9 per cent in February to 210,069 compared to 214,031 in January. National housing starts were 26.8 per cent higher than they were in February 2019.
Compared with the January-February period in 2019, housing starts were up 15.3 per cent across Canada. Eight provinces reported increases, led by Nova Scotia (+55.5 per cent), Quebec (+55.4 per cent) and Saskatchewan (+46.0 per cent). Declines were observed in British Columbia (-19.0 per cent) and Alberta (-3.3 per cent).
Note: Urban areas are defined as areas over 10,000 people
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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