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September 18, 2023HOUSING STARTS, AUGUST 2023 Monthly (August 2023, seasonally adjusted annualized rate)
Nova Scotia’s housing starts (seasonally adjusted annualized rate) totalled 3,163 units in August 2023. This was down 44.4% from the revised estimate of 5,685 units in July 2023.
Housing starts in Halifax dropped to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 1,475 units in August 2023, down 53.9% from 3,201 units in July 2023.
Outside of Halifax, housing starts fell to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 1,688 units, down 32.0% from 2,484 units in July 2023.
Across Canada, housing starts dropped to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 252,787 units in August 2023, down 1.0% from 255,232 units in July 2023.
Housing starts were up in 5 of 10 provinces last month, with the largest percentage increase in New Brunswick and Québec and the largest percentage decrease in Nova Scotia.
Year-over-year (August 2023 vs August 2022)
Nova Scotia's housing starts were also down 44.4% compared with August 2022 - the largest year-over-year decline among provinces. Halifax starts were 53.6% down their level from August 2022 and starts outside the city were down 32.8% compared to the same month last year. Across Canada, housing starts were down 5.9% year-over-year in August with declines in all provinces except New Brunswick, Alberta and British Columbia.
In unadjusted, non-annualized monthly data, there were 113 housing starts in Halifax - less than half (-57.5%) than the number of starts in the same month last year.
Halifax monthly housing completions (unadjusted, non-annualized) in August were 453 - almost triple the number completed in August 2022.
With completions outpacing starts, the number of units under construction in the Halifax market has fallen over the last year to 7,208 as of August 2023.
Year-to-date (January-August 2023 vs January-August 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 eight months of 2023, Nova Scotia’s housing starts were down 10.0% compared to the same period in 2022. Halifax housing starts decreased 19.6% and starts outside the city were up 8.9%. Across Canada, housing starts were down 7.8% in January-August 2023 with declines all provinces except Ontario and British Columbia. Newfoundland and Labrador and Québec reported the largest percentage declines in housing starts.
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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