December 2015 Housing Starts in Trois-Rivieres

MONTREAL, QUEBEC--(Marketwired - Jan. 11, 2016) - Housing starts in the Trois-Rivières census metropolitan area (CMA) were trending at 605 units in December, compared to 599 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.

In December, the housing starts trend remained stable and at a low level in the Trois-Rivières CMA. "Annual results for 2015, for their part, showed 500 housing starts, down 47 per cent from the previous year and the lowest level of activity recorded in almost 15 years. This situation is essentially attributable to the large supply on the existing and new home markets and the soft rental market conditions," said Tania Bourassa-Ochoa, Market Analyst at CMHC.

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, analyzing 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 stand-alone monthly SAAR was 484 units in December, down from 604 in November.

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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To view the graph and tables associated with this release, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1038897e.pdf.