Canadian investment in new housing construction increased 2.4 percent to C$4.7 billion (US$3.5 billion) in August compared with the same month in 2015, according to Statistics Canada.
The advance at the national level was attributable to higher investment in apartment building construction (+9.2 percent) and row house construction (+7.8 percent).
In contrast, spending on single-family houses declined 2.1 percent year-over-year in August, following six consecutive months of year-over-year gains. Investment in semi-detached dwellings also decreased year over year, down 6.1 percent in August.
At the provincial level, new housing investment rose in Ontario and British Columbia in August.
In August, investment in new housing construction in Ontario increased 18.4 percent from August 2015. The gain was the result of higher spending in all four dwelling types, with investment in single-family dwellings and apartment buildings contributing the most to the advance in the province.
In British Columbia, spending on new residential dwellings rose 32.7 percent year-over-year in August, surpassing the $1-billion mark for the first time. The advance was mainly attributable to higher investment in apartment buildings and, to a lesser extent, single-family dwellings.
Conversely, Alberta and Quebec posted the largest declines among the remaining provinces.
In Alberta, new housing construction spending declined year over year for the 14th consecutive month, down 32.2 percent in August. Lower investment in single-family dwellings and apartment buildings was responsible for most of the decrease.
In Quebec, spending was down 14.3 percent from the same month in 2015. This was the second consecutive month of year-over-year decreases. Lower investment in single-family dwellings accounted for most of the decline in August.
