Housing starts surprised to the upside for the second straight month, with nearly 280K starts in May - handily beating estimates for 248K thanks to continued gains in multi-unit activity.

May’s 9% Y/Y gain was carried by strength across the prairie provinces and in Quebec, while Ontario (Toronto down 22%) and BC (Vancouver down 10%) continue to face challenges.

Whether the strength in starts can translate into increased housing supply remains to be seen, as new unit construction continued to moderate in May…

… and unabsorbed inventory continued to build, sitting on the market longer than in previous months.