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Canadian Rental Construction Holds Firm Despite Broader Housing Slowdown, BMO Says

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The key trend in the Canadian housing market continues to be the widening divergence between rental and ownership construction, according to Bank of Montreal Capital Markets (BMO) after Wednesday's June data.

Across Canada's major census metropolitan areas, combined condominium and ownership housing starts have fallen to their lowest level since the 2009 recession, and before that, the mid-1990s downturn, added the bank.

In contrast, rental housing starts continue to hover near record highs, wrote BMO Senior Economist Robert Kavcic in a Thursday note after the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation's data.

Canadian housing starts fell for a third consecutive month to a "still-solid" annualized pace of 239,000 units. Despite the recent decline, housing activity remains resilient, with year-to-date starts averaging 248,000 and the 12-month average at 256,000.

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