he Canadian housing market got off to a better than expected start this year as constructors broke ground on 197,900 new houses, 3,900 more than expected by analysts. December housing starts were revised down by 300 to 199,900, meaning starts fell 1 percent in January.
The driver behind the better than expected number was urban housing starts, which rose 9.9 percent after a decline of 13.5 percent in December. Rural housing starts, which dropped 10.7 percent after a 1.4 percent decline in December, made sure that we saw an overall decline in housing starts. As we noted in this morning's Macro Update building permits, which lead starts, have grown comparatively less in recent months suggesting more sluggish numbers in the months to come. (January building permits will be released on 7 March.)On a different note, US MBA Mortgage Applications rose 7.5 percent week-on-week last week after a 2.9 percent drop the week before that. Overall, mortgage applications have bounced back strongly in the second half of 2011 and into 2012, but they have mostly been driven by refinancing applications with applications for purchase stagnant.