December 2012 Housing Starts in Kingston

OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Jan. 9, 2013) - Housing starts in the Kingston Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) were trending at 1,165 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 723 units in December up from 545 in November.

"In December, single-detached starts were up from the same month a year ago, while multiple-family homes saw a significant decrease over the same period. This year's decline in multiple-family dwellings was due to the construction of a large number of apartment units in December 2011," said Andrew Scott, CMHC`s Market Analyst for Kingston.

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.

"Overall in 2012, Kingston posted a healthy number of housing starts at 896. Although this number was lower than the 959 recorded in 2011, it was still higher than the historical average. Kingston continued to increase the density of its housing this year, as a large number of apartment and townhouses were constructed. Townhouses in particular finished 2012 on a high note with an annual total increase of 30 per cent over 2011 numbers," concluded Scott.

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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To view the graph and table associated with this press release, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/KINGSTON010813EN.pdf.