December 2012 Housing Starts in Prince Edward Island

MONCTON, NEW BRUNSWICK--(Marketwire - Jan. 9, 2013) - Housing starts in Prince Edward Island were trending at 832 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 955 units in December, up from 445 in November.

"For the month of December, new home construction was above the previous year's level, due to an increase in both single and multiple starts in Charlottetown. The full-year results reflect a similar pattern as total starts in the province's urban centres finished the year above 2011 levels. The annual increases were due to the strength of the housing market in the Charlottetown area, as starts in Summerside were below the levels posted in 2011," said Jason Beaton, CMHC's Market Analyst for Prince Edward Island.

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.

Single-detached starts added 25 actual units in December 2012 compared to 12 units in 2011. Multiple starts increased to 50 actual units in December compared to 26 units reported a year ago. Overall,total starts in the province's urban centres in 2012 were up 1 per cent to to 679 actual units.

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.

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^[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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A graph is available at the following address: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/graph_eng_pei_0109.pdf

Preliminary Housing Start Data
December 2012
Province, Centres 10,000+		December 2011	December 2012
	Actual, urban centres1
December - Single-Detached		12	25
December - Multiples		26	50
December - Total		38	75
January to December - Single-Detached		236	249
January to December - Multiples		433	430
January to December - Total		669	679
		November 2012	December 2012
SAAR2, urban centres1
Total		445	955
Source: CMHC
1 Urban centres with a population of 10,000 and over.
2 Seasonally Adjusted at Annual Rates
Detailed data available on request.

Prince Edward Island Preliminary Actual Housing Start Data
December / 2011-2012
Urban Centres	Single-Detached		Multiples		Total
	2011	2012	2011	2012	2011	2012
Urban Centres 10,000+
Charlottetown CA	11	23	14	50	25	73
Summerside CA	1	2	12	0	13	2
Total Urban Starts	12	25	26	50	38	75
Prince Edward Island Preliminary Actual Housing Start Data
January to December / 2011-2012
Urban Centres	Single-Detached		Multiples		Total
	2011	2012	2011	2012	2011	2012
Urban Centres 10,000+
Charlottetown CA	201	224	333	388	534	612
Summerside CA	35	25	100	42	135	67
Total Urban Starts	236	249	433	430	669	679