August 2014 Housing Starts in Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Sept. 9, 2014) - Housing starts in the Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) were trending down slightly at 3,383 units in August compared to 3,590 in July, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). The trend is a six month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR)¹ of housing starts.

"Starts trended lower in August due primarily to lower apartment starts. Although single-detached starts were at the highest level in more than two years, the low level of townhouse and apartment starts in August pulled the trend lower. However, for the first eight months of 2014, new construction is 65 per cent higher than at the same time last year. Stronger demand from both repeat and first-time buyers as well as renters has translated into higher starts for all housing types this year," said Erica McLerie, CMHC's Senior Market Analyst for the Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo CMA.

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 1,580 units in August, down from 3,109 in July.

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

As Canada's national housing agency, CMHC draws on more than 65 years of experience to help Canadians access a variety of quality, environmentally sustainable and affordable housing solutions. CMHC also provides reliable, impartial and up-to-date housing market reports, analysis and knowledge to support and assist consumers and the housing industry in making informed decisions.

Follow CMHC on Twitter @CMHC_ca

¹ All starts figures in this release, other than actual starts and the trend estimate, are seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR) - that is, monthly figures adjusted to remove normal seasonal variation and multiplied by 12 to reflect annual levels. By removing seasonal ups and downs, seasonal adjustment allows for a comparison from one season to the next and from one month to the next. Reporting monthly figures at annual rates indicates the annual level of starts that would be obtained if the monthly pace was maintained for 12 months. This facilitates comparison of the current pace of activity to annual forecasts as well as to historical annual levels.

Additional data is available upon request.

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A graph and tables are available at the following address: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/966933e-graph.pdf