Canadian Housing In Good Shape

From CEP news:

15:29 12/10 (CEP News) Ottawa – November’s strong construction starts in single-detached homes may be a hint that Santa has more strong Canadian housing numbers waiting in his sack for December, an economist says.

“If you look at the building permits data from the preceding month, it reflected that builders were taking out a lot more permits in the multi-unit category,” said HSBC Market Strategist Stewart Hall. “So that suggests there’s still some potential to see some fairly good upside going into December - a time when we might expect builders to switch over to the job completion phase given the weather.”

Hall noted that building permits typically lead construction by about 45 days.
The Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation reported on Monday that the seasonally-adjusted annual rate of housing starts was 227,900 units in November, essentially unchanged from the 227,600 units recorded in the previous month.

Bob Dugan, CMHC’s chief economist, said the continued strong performance was a result of strong activity in the single-detached market.

BMO Capital Markets economist Robert Hogue wrote in a note following the release that “despite earlier concerns about the potential impact of the financial market storm on Canadian housing demand, home building remains a pillar of strength in the Canadian economy.”

Strong job creation and favourable interest rates are providing support to the momentum of residential construction going into 2008, he said.

While there have been concerns about a credit crunch, Hall said that perhaps some of the impact of the trubulence in credit markets had been mitigated by Canadians' strong pay checques.

“Maybe for good credit, there’s always funds available,” Hall said, but added that pre-approved mortgages may also be providing a buffer between the credit market as it stands now and the real estate market.

--These numbers are good, not big surprises. Somehow I think housing wouldn't be that big of deal if it weren't doing so poorly in the states. Here's the link