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February 10, 2020HOUSING STARTS, JANUARY 2020 
Nova Scotia's housing starts (seasonally adjusted annualized rate) fell by 58.3 per cent to 2,804 in January compared to 6,724 in December. Compared to January 2019, Nova Scotia housing starts were down 19.8 per cent.
Housing starts were down 70.4 per cent in Halifax to 1,279 compared to 4,320 in December. Halifax starts are down 52.6 per cent compared to January 2019.
Outside Halifax, Nova Scotia's housing starts were down 36.6 per cent in January to 1,525 versus 2,404 in December. Compared to January 2019, housing starts outside Halifax are up 91.8 per cent.
The six-month moving average of housing starts in Nova Scotia and Halifax show similar trends. There were increases in starts, particularly among multiple unit dwellings in the summer of 2018 and the summer of 2019. These starts then faded towards the end of the year. The trends outside Halifax are different, with a rise in starts in the first half of 2018 followed by a decline over the next year. Since then, housing starts outside Halifax have been rising.
In urban areas, housing starts for multiples are generally higher than for singles with greater variability month-to-month. The six-month moving average for singles increaed in the summer of 2018 and summer of 2019. The pace of multiple starts in urban areas has been more volatile, with peaks in summer of 2018 and summer of 2019.
Nationally, housing starts were up 8.8 per cent in January to 213,224 compared to 195,892 in December. National housing starts were 5.6 per cent higher than they were in January 2019.
Compared with January 2019, housing starts were up 5.6 per cent across Canada. Five provinces reported increases, led by Quebec (+73.0 per cent) and Saskatchewan (+46.0 per cent). The largest declines were observed in British Columbia (-39.2 per cent) and Prince Edward Island (-38.6 per cent). Housing starts were down 19.8 per cent in Nova Scotia.
Note: Urban areas are defined as areas over 10,000 people
Table 34-10-0158-01 Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, housing starts, all areas, Canada and provinces, seasonally adjusted at annual rates, monthly (x 1,000)
Table 34-10-0156-01 Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, housing starts in all centres 10,000 and over, Canada, provinces, and census metropolitan areas, seasonally adjusted at annual rates, monthly (x 1,000)
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