Canadian housing starts bounce back in March, but still trending lower

Canadian housing starts rebounded in March, surging 25.4% (M/M) to 189,708 units (SAAR) - coming ahead of market expectations. The March advance more than offsets the downwardly revised 19.1% drop recorded in February that partially reflected the harsh winter weather. 

On a six-month moving average basis, housing starts edged lower to 179,016 units in March from 180,236 in February, sustaining a downward trend that has been exhibited since September.

"Looking forward, despite a resale market that has been boosted by a low interest rate environment, we expect starts to hover in the 175K-180K range over the course of 2015." - said TD Economics in a report on Friday