April 2016 Housing Starts in Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - May 9, 2016) - Housing starts in the Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) were trending at 2,768 units in April compared to 2,873 units in March, 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 slightly lower in April as the increase in the trend for apartment starts was more than offset by the decreasing trend for single-detached homes and townhomes. Starts are trending at a level consistent with demographic demand," said Erica McLerie, Senior Market Analyst at CMHC. "Housing starts are supported by population and employment growth. A tight resale market has meant some spill-over of demand to the new home market."

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 multiples segment includes apartments, rows and semi-detached homes.

The SAAR of total housing starts was 1,735 units in April, down from 2,012 units in March. The decline in the SAAR was due to lower single-detached and apartment starts. Actual starts for the first four months of 2016 declined 11 per cent from the same period in 2015 due to fewer apartment starts.

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/1053843_ENG.pdf