December 2015 Housing Starts in London

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Jan. 11, 2016) - The housing starts trend in the London Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) was stable at 1,986 units in December compared to 1,999 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) of housing starts.

"Single-detached starts trended up, roughly offsetting the downward trend for multi-unit starts," said Anthony Passarelli, Senior Market Analyst with CMHC. "Job growth and low mortgage rates have made it easier for existing homeowners to find a buyer and upgrade to a new single-detached home."

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 monthly SAAR of total starts was 1,501 units in December, down from 1,547 in November due to fewer row home starts. Starts of single-detached, semi-detached and apartment units were up in December. Actual total housing starts for 2015 was 2,105 units, up from 1,983 starts in 2014 due to higher row home and apartment starts.

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 information to Canadian governments, consumers and the housing industry.

For more information, visit our website at www.cmhc.ca or follow us on Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Additional data is available upon request.

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Tables and a graph are available at the following address: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1038934a.pdf