January 2017 Housing Starts in the Saguenay CMA

QUEBEC CITY, QUEBEC--(Marketwired - Feb. 8, 2017) - Housing starts in the Saguenay census metropolitan area (CMA) were trending at 497 units in January, compared to 505 in December, 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.

"Residential construction in the Saguenay area stayed essentially the same in January. In fact, even though the trend in housing starts rose slightly over the past year, the volume of construction has remained at a rather low level from a historical standpoint. This has been due to the sluggish economic and demographic environment and the high inventories of units already available in the area," said Nicolas Bernatchez, Market Analyst at CMHC.

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, analyzing 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 stand-alone monthly SAAR was 256 units in January, down from 666 in December.

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.

(Ce document existe également en français.)

Tables and a graph are available at the following address: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1085202_Saguenay-e.pdf