February 2015 Housing Starts in the Saguenay CMA

QUÉBEC CITY, QUÉBEC--(Marketwired - March 8, 2016) - Housing starts in the Saguenay census metropolitan area (CMA) were trending at 278 units in February, compared to 302 in January, 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 downward trend in housing starts in the Saguenay area continued for a seventh month in row. This is not surprising, given the significant supply of existing housing units for sale or rent and employment showing signs of weakness," said Élisabeth Koulouris, Principal, Market Analysis, 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 338 units in February, up from 180 in January.

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/1045920a.pdf