Quebec housing starts rose 9% in May 2022 compared to the same month last year, marking the first increase after declines over the past five months.
• Also read: Record investments in the Quebec region
Nearly 5,525 homes were built in the province during that period, according to data released Wednesday by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).
While the number of single family homes decreased last month (-32%), the number of shared accommodation increased by 19% compared to May 2021.
“Among collective housing, we note the construction of 4,442 housing units in Quebec in the last month. This is a record for the month of May,” said Paul Cardinal, director of the Economics Division of the Association of Construction and Housing Professionals of Quebec (APCHQ).
This increase was primarily felt in four of Quebec’s six metropolitan areas (CMAs), particularly in Montreal, where housing starts increased 21 percent in May for the first time this year.
Sherbrooke, Trois-Rivières, and Gatineau’s CMAs rose 28%, 23%, and 18%, respectively, over the same period.
Conversely, Québec City’s CMA saw housing starts fall 32% after three months of strong monthly gains. Construction activity also fell by 11% in Saguenay.
Even the smallest metropolitan areas between 10,000 and 100,000 residents are on the rise, with a 14% increase in housing starts, the second such increase since the beginning of the year.
However, in the period from June 2021 to May 2022, housing starts fell by 4% compared to the previous 12-month period.