Vancouver Housing Starts Pick Up in November

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Dec. 8, 2016) - Housing starts in the Vancouver Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) were trending at 27,495 units in November compared to 26,082 units in October, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). The trend is a six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR) of housing starts.

"Total housing starts trended higher in November due to a large number of apartment starts in the City of Vancouver," said Robyn Adamache, CMHC Principal Market Analyst for Vancouver, "2016 is shaping up to be a record year for housing starts as builders add much needed supply in the region."

CMHC uses the trend measure as a complement to the monthly SAAR of housing starts to account for considerable swings in monthly estimates and obtain a more complete picture of the state of the housing market. In some situations, analysing only SAAR data can be misleading in some markets as they are largely driven by the multiples segment of the markets which can be quite variable from one month to the next.

The standalone monthly SAAR was 31,980 units in November, up from 11,993 units in October. The increase in the SAAR for Vancouver was concentrated in apartment starts, which rebounded following an unusually slow October.

Housing starts in the Abbotsford-Mission CMA were trending at 965 units in November, down from 1,152 units in October. This downward trend extended across all home types.

Preliminary Housing Starts data is also available in English and French at the following link: Preliminary Housing Starts Tables

As Canada's authority on housing, CMHC contributes to the stability of the housing market and financial system, provides support for Canadians in housing need, and offers objective housing research and information to Canadian governments, consumers and the housing industry.

For more information, visit our website at www.cmhc.ca or follow us on Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Additional data is available upon request.

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