Ontario Housing Starts Edge Lower in November

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Dec. 8, 2016) -

Housing starts in the Ontario region were trending at 72,250 units in November, down from 74,176 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.

"The Ontario residential construction trend moved lower owing to slowing in semi-detached and apartment activity. Single detached home starts however remained elevated but in a stable range since early this year. Stronger growth in the Ontario economy this year, low interest rates and under-supplied low rise resale market continues to keep residential starts elevated in Ontario," said Ted Tsiakopoulos, CMHC's Ontario Regional Economist.

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 SAAR of total urban housing starts was 55,232 units in November, down from 81,119 units in October. For the period ending November 2016, Ontario urban home starts are running two per cent higher versus the same period one year ago. With the exception of Brantford and Windsor, all other major markets posted declines in November.

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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