December 2014 Housing Starts in Kingston

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Jan. 9, 2015) - Housing starts in the Kingston Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) were trending at 718 units in December compared to 777 in November, 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.

"Kingston`s housing market ended the year with an increase in the number of seasonally adjusted housing starts from the previous month. The construction of ground oriented housing posted another healthy month; however, high density housing led the increase in new construction this month. Supported by stable earnings and a lower unemployment rate, apartment construction resumed in December, after a six month pause, establishing a positive momentum as we move forward," said Aris Gianneskis, 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.

The standalone monthly SAAR was 1,559 units in December up from 530 in November; this is attributed almost entirely to a large apartment development breaking ground in the last month of the year. In any given month, the SAAR tends to be more volatile than the six-month trend.

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 advice to Canadian governments, consumers and the housing industry.

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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A graph and table are available at the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/986893e.pdf.