December 2015 Housing Starts Stable in British Columbia

VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Jan. 11, 2016) - Housing starts in British Columbia's urban areas were trending at 30,598 units in December compared to 30,840 units 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.

"The trend level of housing starts has hovered just over 30,000 units since mid-2015, a level consistent with an active resale housing market and underlying population and employment growth in the province," said Carol Frketich, CMHC Regional Economist for BC. "For the year as a whole, housing starts in BC increased compared to 2014 as more single-detached and multiple-family homes got underway. Most centres in the province recorded increased housing starts last year."

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 standalone monthly SAAR for urban starts in British Columbia was 33,346 units in December, compared to 26,417 units 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 tables and graph accompanying this press release please click on the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1038905b.pdf