London region records big dip in housing starts in 2025, despite robust activity in multi-unit residential

CMHC figures show 2025 was one of the worst years for new home starts in the London region. CTV’s Bryan Bicknell explains.

Housing starts hit a multi-year low in the London region in 2025.

But if not for robust construction activity in the multi-residential sector, the number of new builds would have been even lower.

“So, we’ve seen a huge increase, especially in apartments over the last two years,” said Jared Zaifman, CEO of the London Homebuilders Association. “And it’s made a lot of sense where people that even had condo projects that have shifted into converting that into rental projects - in large part just because it made a lot more sense when you have those incentives that exist.”

According to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), construction began on 188 units in the London region in December 2025, down 59 per cent from 462 in December 2024.

For all of 2025, there were 3,106 home-starts, down 26 per cent from 4,171 - one of the lowest years for new home construction in the last decade.

The lower rate in 2025 was brought on by a drop of 20 per cent in single detached home-starts, year over year. In 2024, builders’ broke ground on 564 single-detached homes, compared to 451 in 2025.

Home-starts for single-detached homes made up 14.5 per cent of all new housing construction in 2025.

“That segment of the market was very quiet,” said Anthony Passarelli, CMHC’s lead economist for southern Ontario.

“You did still have a very strong year in terms of rental construction, which we always want to highlight at CMHC because even though the total numbers don’t look so great, that rental component was up, and very strong again this year,” he explained.

The shift to building rental properties is being attributed to multiple factors, including higher interest rates for would-be homebuyers, and a high inventory of homes already on the market.

Zaifman adds that many would-be buyers are holding out for more attractive buying conditions.

“But there’s just so much uncertainty that people have been holding off. And we’re also seeing that as a result of some of the stuff that government has been doing as well. So, on the very positive side we’ve seen the federal government look at additional reductions for first-time homebuyers, a rebate on GST. But they announced that last May and it’s still not law yet, so people hear those things and they’re waiting,” said Zaifman.