US Housing Starts Rebound as Canadian Starts Decline

North American residential construction showed diverging trends in June 2026, with a sharp recovery in the United States contrasting with a decline in Canada.

The U.S. Department of Commerce reported that housing starts increased by 19% to an annual rate of 1.427 million units. This rebound follows a 15.2% decline in May, which was revised to 1.199 million units. Despite the surge in starts, building permits fell 3% to an annual rate of 1.367 million, a steeper drop than economists had anticipated.

In contrast, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation reported that the annual pace of housing starts in June fell 6% compared to May, with the seasonally adjusted rate dropping to 238,971 units. The six-month moving average also decreased by 2.8% to 248,123 units.

Other Canadian metrics provided a mixed outlook. Completions rose 8.4% to 18,298 units, and units under construction in centers with populations over 50,000 increased slightly by 0.2% to 375,469. However, the number of approved building permits that had not yet started decreased by 1.1% to 137,324.