Calgary Housing Starts Trend Increased in September

CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwired - Oct. 11, 2016) - Housing starts in the Calgary Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) were trending at 10,533 units in September compared to 9,019 in August, 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 total housing starts.

"Compared to last month, overall housing starts picked up pace in September, particularly as construction of several multi-unit condo projects began recently," said Richard Cho, CMHC Principal Market Analyst for Calgary. "This increase notwithstanding, housing starts remain below historical averages for Calgary due to elevated new home inventories and weaker economic conditions."

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 standalone monthly SAAR was 14,279 units in September, up from 8,638 in August. Actual housing starts in September totalled 1,205 units, a seven per cent decline from 1,299 units in the same month in 2015. To the end of September, total housing starts reached 6,898 units compared to 9,831 during the corresponding period in 2015.

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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