Housing starts in Canada increased 2.3 percent in July compared to June, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). The six-month moving average based on seasonally adjusted annual rates grew from 199,778 units in June to 204,376 units in July.

The Conference Board of Canada said “negative expectations continue to outweigh positive expectations for the long term” for Canada’s housing market.

The coronavirus pandemic’s profound impact on the Canadian economy has created “unprecedented uncertainty” for forecasting housing construction and sales activity, according to a special edition of the Housing Market Outlook recently released by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).

National investment in new housing construction was up 8.9 in 2017 compared with 2016.

The trend measure of housing starts in Canada was 198,053 units in December compared to 200,105 in November, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.