News
New housing investment up 4.9%

December 19, 2016 – Investment in new housing construction increased 4.9% year over year to $5.0 billion in October.

At the national level, nearly half of residential construction spending was devoted to single-family homes. Investment in apartment buildings accounted for over one-third of national spending.

Year over year, investment in single family homes rose 6.0% to $2.4 billion in October, while spending on apartment buildings increased 2.1% to $1.8 billion. Row house construction investment increased 11.7%, whereas spending on semi-detached dwellings was up 3.4%.

At the provincial level, the largest gains in new housing spending were recorded in British Columbia and Ontario. These two provinces posted increases for all four dwelling types, and together accounted for two-thirds of total national investment.

In British Columbia, spending on new housing construction totalled $1.1 billion in October, up 31.4% from the same month a year earlier. Higher investment in apartment buildings and single-family homes largely drove the advance.

In Ontario, investment in new residential construction increased 13.9% year over year to $2.1 billion in October. The gain was attributable mainly to higher spending on single-family homes and, to a lesser extent, row houses and apartment buildings.

Conversely, investment in new housing construction was down in seven provinces in October compared with October 2015, with Alberta registering the largest decrease.

In Alberta, spending on the four housing types declined in October, down 27.0% year over year to $670 million. The drop was largely the result of lower spending on apartment buildings and single-family homes. Spending on new housing construction in Alberta has been on a downward trend since July 2015.

Chart 1
Investment in new housing construction, by type of dwelling

Charts: Statistics Canada