Canadian housing starts slipped to 181,800 annualized units in April, somewhat below expectations, and the prior month was revised down a touch to 189,500 (from 189,700).
Overall, this marks a more normal level of homebuilding activity after some wild weather-related swings in recent months. Smoothing out the gyrations leaves housing starts sitting at an average pace of 187k over the past year, and 176k through the first four months of the year
"There's still not a whole lot to see with housing starts at the national level-activity is stable if you look past the monthly swings, and we're building what we need. In Alberta, we're now seeing signs that the slide in oil prices is biting residential construction activity, while strong markets in Vancouver and Toronto are supporting activity." says BMO Capital Markets
