04:40 PM EDT, 08/19/2024 (MT Newswires) -- BMO Economist Shelly Kaushik on Monday said Canadian homebuilding "remains sturdy" despite softness in the resale market and ongoing capacity pressures. Kaushik noted housing starts surged again in July -- and also that while the monthly series can be very volatile, the six-month trend is still historically elevated just under the recent all-time highs. Of course, Kaushik said, the above-mentioned capacity pressures have delayed housing completions, bringing the number of dwellings under construction to fresh records. The accelerating trend looks to have cooled in recent months, suggesting that some of those constraints could be starting to subside, she added.

According to Kaushik, the bottom line is that homebuilding has remained remarkably resilient so far -- albeit at a much slower pace than torrid population growth. She said the latter could cool in the coming years, offsetting some demand pressure from lower mortgage rates.