British Columbia Housing Starts Trending Lower

VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Sept. 8, 2016) - Housing starts in British Columbia's urban areas were trending at 39,744 units in August compared to 42,553 units 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) of housing starts.

"British Columbia housing starts trended lower for the first time this year reflecting a similar change in direction of trend housing starts in the Vancouver, Abbotsford-Mission, Victoria and Kelowna Census Metropolitan Areas," said Carol Frketich, CMHC's BC Regional Economist. "The provincial trend level of housing starts remains elevated despite this decline."

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 for urban starts in British Columbia was 33,483 units in August, compared to 37,554 units in July.

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)

To view the tables accompanying this press release please click on the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1068554.pdf