The only reason for a housing slowdown is a shortage of concrete or a delay getting rails for the subway stop under the common greenspace.

This is the best summary I could come up with:

The annual rate of housing starts in Canada fell slightly by one per cent compared with March 2024, while the number of residential home sales dropped in the same period of time, according to separate sets of numbers released today by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) and the Canadian Real Estate Association.

"Volatility observed in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal in recent months is unsurprising as we continue to see last year's challenging borrowing conditions reflected in multi-unit housing starts numbers.

As far as housing costs are concerned, in an emailed newsletter, BMO chief economist Doug Porter pointed out that while multiples like apartments or condominiums are "the dominant form of starts," because they take longer to complete than a single-family home, any new units "will not come riding to rescue for strained affordability soon."

Releasing separate numbers on the same day, the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) says that home sales in April are down by 1.7 per cent in Canada compared to March 2024, though they are higher than the year prior.

"We have budget constrained buyers who still appear to be at a standstill, just waiting for rate cuts and for affordability to improve before entering the market," she told CBC News.

According to CREA, the lower sales in April compared to March, combined with more listings, meant that the overall number of properties on the market went up by 6.5 per cent.

The original article contains 577 words, the summary contains 231 words. Saved 60%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

About time.