December 2012 Housing Starts in Guelph

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Jan. 9, 2013) - Housing starts in the Guelph Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) were trending at 900 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 510 units in December, up from 500 in November.

"With more spillover of demand to the new home market from a tight resale market, single-detached and townhome construction increased in December. But, annual starts were slightly lower. Although the City of Guelph planned to register approximately 1,100 units this year, this did not translate into starts. Uncertain employment conditions led some consumers to delay their home purchases," said Erica McLerie, CMHC's Senior Market Analyst for Guelph.

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.

Construction began on 39 homes in December, down from the 168 units started last year, but December 2011 starts were the highest for a December since 1973. Builders started 19 single-detached homes in December, up marginally from the 18 homes started a year ago. Townhouse starts decreased to 12 units from 53 units started in December 2011, while apartment starts fell to 8 units from 91 units. Due to decreased activity for semi-detached homes and apartments, starts in 2012 slipped to 731 units from the 764 units started 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.

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.

Follow CMHC on Twitter @CMHC_ca.

Additional data is available upon request.

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To view the graph and tables associated with this press release, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/GUELPH010813EN.pdf.