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OTTAWA — Ontario and B.C. were highlighted as areas with particularly dire circumstances when it comes to builder sentiment in the third quarter, according to the Canadian Home Builders’ Association (CHBA) 2024 Q3 Housing Market Index (HMI).

The single-family HMI recorded a score of 27.4, which is down 2.5 from last quarter. The multi-family HMI is down four points from last quarter with a score of 28.5. Both indexes are approaching the record lows seen in Q3 2023, states a CHBA release.   

“Builder sentiment remained abysmal in Ontario, reflecting effectively no builders experiencing good selling conditions. Sentiment in British Columbia soured to record lows, while the Prairies and Atlantic Canada fell from mildly positive sentiment to mildly pessimistic,” the CHBA reports. “The multi-family HMI in the Prairies, while still strong, was less optimistic this quarter. The sole positively-trending index of all the regional breakdowns is the multi-family HMI in Atlantic Canada, which is only responsible for less than five per cent of national starts.”

The CHBA states this data emphasizes the need “for a continued and increased multi-pronged approach to effectively help affordability challenges caused by Canada’s chronic lack of housing supply, which should include monetary and macroprudential policy easing in addition to other housing policy measures at all levels of government to facilitate building the homes needed to close the supply gap.”

The federal government’s expansion of allowing 30-year amortization periods for insured mortgages for first-time buyers and all buyers of new construction homes, as well as a higher limit on insured mortgages to reflect today’s house prices, are due to come into effect on Dec. 15.

“This will help ease the pressure for a portion of buyers trying to get into the market while simultaneously stimulating new home construction,” the release reads. “Other measures, such as CHBA’s recommendation to overhaul the GST charged on new homes, and to change the stress test to be more dynamic, should continue to be explored.”