Adedokun Waliyu 
Canadian housing starts rebounded more than expected in February as groundbreaking increased on multiple-unit urban homes but analysts were doubtful that the pickup in activity, seen key to relieving a housing shortage, would be sustained.
The seasonally adjusted annualized rate of housing starts rose 14% to 253,468 units after declining to a revised 223,176 units in January, Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) data showed on Friday.
That was higher than the 230,000 expected by economists.
Canadian authorities are under pressure to relieve a housing shortage which has been worsened by historically high population growth. The federal government is expected to address the issue at a budget on April 16.
“As the national housing shortage continues, the focus for developers continues to shift towards multi-unit construction in Canada’s major centres,” Bob Dugan, CMHC’s chief economist, said in a statement.
Multi-unit urban starts increased 20% to 196,392 units, while single-detached urban starts decreased 2% to 42,241 units, the data showed.
Canada’s home sales market has showed signs of recovery in recent months as the Bank of Canada signaled its next move could be to lower borrowing costs. Still, past weakness in sales could yet hold back homebuilding, Rishi Sondhi, an economist at TD Economics, said in a note.
“We think they’ll head lower as the year progresses,” Sondhi said.
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