December 2012 Housing Starts in Brantford CMA

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Jan. 9, 2013) - Housing starts in Brantford, Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) were trending at 417 units 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)¹ of housing starts. The standalone monthly SAAR was 591 units in December, up from 340 units in November.

"Total housing starts were up in December 2012 compared to the same month in 2011. Single-detached and apartment starts were completely responsible for the increase in Brantford's total housing starts this December," said Abdul Kargbo, CMHC's Senior Market Analyst for the Hamilton and Brantford CMAs.

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.

Single-detached housing starts, which are less volatile and therefore a better indicator of the trend in construction activity, increased in December 2012 compared to the same month a year earlier. The strong performance in single-detached starts this December resulted in an annual increase of 24 per cent. Apartment starts increased slightly while row starts declined from last year's level. Meanwhile, no starts occurred for semi-detached structures. On a sub-market basis, between January and December 2012, total housing starts in Brant City edged higher, while total residential construction activity in Brantford City finished 2012 below the number of units reported in 2011.

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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