December Housing Starts Moderate in St. Catharines-Niagara

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Jan. 11, 2011) - Preliminary data for December 2010 released today by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) for the St. Catharines-Niagara Census Metropolitan Area(i) (CMA) show a decline in housing starts to 59 units from 69 units a year earlier.

In December, builders broke ground for 40 new single-detached homes compared to 58 homes in December 2009. On an annual basis, 2010 housing starts advanced 26 per cent from 2009. Single, semi-detached and townhouse construction was up but apartment construction moderated. As in 2009, nearly two thirds of housing starts in 2010 were single-detached homes. Housing starts in Niagara Region surpassed by one-third their 2009 level due to a higher level of activity in both Grimsby and West Lincoln.

"As usual, demand for new homes was low in December," said Ashot Karapetyan, Market Analyst with CMHC. "Overall, new home starts trended lower in the tail end of the year compared to a strong start of 2010 as many buyers brought forward their home purchases," added Karapetyan.

To view "St. Catharines - Niagara CMA", please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/stcatharines_figure1.pdf.

To view "Monthly Housing Starts", please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/stcatharines_figure2.pdf.

To view "Table A.1: Fourth Quarter" and "Table A.2: Year-to-Date (January-December)", please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/stcatharines_table1.pdf.

As Canada's national housing agency, CMHC draws on more than 60 years of experience to help Canadians access a variety of quality, environmentally sustainable and affordable homes. CMHC also provides reliable, impartial and up-to-date housing market reports, analysis and knowledge to support and assist consumers and the housing industry in making vital decisions.

For more information, please visit www.cmhc.ca or call 1-800-668-2642.

To view "Table 1: Month of December" and "Table 2: Year-to-Date (January-December)", please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/stcatharines_table2.pdf.

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(i) Statistics Canada defines a census metropolitan area (CMA) as one or more adjacent municipalities integrated with an urban core. A CMA must have a total population of at least 100,000 of which 50,000 or more must live in the urban core.