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June 15, 2023HOUSING STARTS, MAY 2023 Monthly (May 2023, seasonally adjusted annualized rate)
Nova Scotia’s housing starts (seasonally adjusted annualized rate) totalled 4,969 units in May 2023, up 6.5% from the revised estimate of 4,665 units in April 2023.
Housing starts in Halifax slowed to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 2,048 units in May 2023, down 21.9% from 2,622 in April 2023.
Outside of Halifax, housing starts increased to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 2,921 units, up 43.0% from 2,043 units in April 2023.
Across Canada, housing starts dropped to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 202,494 units in May 2023, down 22.5% from 261,357 units in April 2023.
Housing starts were down in 7 of 10 provinces last month, with the largest percentage increase in Manitoba and the largest percentage decrease in Prince Edward Island.
Year-over-year (May 2023 vs May 2022)
Nova Scotia's housing starts were down 57.7% compared with May 2022. Halifax starts were 78.7% below their level from May 2022 while starts outside the city were up 37.3% compared to the same month last year. Across Canada, housing starts were down 27.5% year-over-year in May with declines in all provinces except Manitoba. Nova Scotia's year-over-year housing starts were down the most among provinces.
In unadjusted, non-annualized monthly data, there were 173 housing starts in Halifax - the lowest housing starts for May in the Halifax market since 2014.
Halifax monthly housing completions (unadjusted, non-annualized) in May were 339 - the most completions for this month since May 1988.
With completions recently outpacing starts, the number of units under construction in the Halifax market has fallen over the last year to 6,721 as of May 2023.
Year-to-date (January-May 2023 vs January-May 2022)
Monthly and year-over-year changes in housing starts exhibit considerable volatility. Longer year-to-date averages offer a more stable picture of how Nova Scotia's housing market is evolving.
During the first five months of 2023, Nova Scotia’s housing starts were down 25.5% compared to the same period in 2022. Halifax housing starts decreased 47.0% and starts outside the city were up 22.5%. Across Canada, housing starts were down 10.6% in January-May 2023 with declines in 8 of 10 provinces. Newfoundland and Labrador reported the largest percentage drop in housing starts while British Columbia reported the largest percentage gain.
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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