December 2016 Housing Starts in Guelph

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Jan. 10, 2017) - Housing starts in the Guelph Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) were trending down at 703 units in December compared to 961 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 decrease in the total housing starts trend in December occurred because there were no apartment starts. The trends for starts of single-detached houses, semi-detached houses and townhomes were relatively flat in December," said Erica McLerie, Senior Market Analyst at CMHC. "In-migration and a very tight resale market have led to strong demand for new homes. However, land constraints in the City of Guelph have meant fewer single-detached and townhome starts in 2016. Although total starts were slightly lower in 2016, apartment starts increased as the shift from ground-oriented homes to mid-rise/high-rise construction continued."

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 SAAR of total housing starts was 561 units in December, down from 768 units in November due to a lower number of starts for semi-detached houses and townhouses and an absence of apartment starts. Actual total housing starts for 2016 reached 1,061 units, down seven per cent compared to 2015, due to lower starts for single-detached homes and townhouses.

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/1082160_guelph_e.pdf