February 2016 Housing Starts in Gatineau

MONTRÉAL, QUÉBEC--(Marketwired - March 8, 2016) - Housing starts in the Gatineau area were trending at 1,262 units in February, 1,090 compared to 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.

Following a significant decrease in January, the housing starts trend picked up in February. "Residential construction rebounded somewhat last month in the Gatineau area, thanks to the start of construction of a few rental and condominium housing projects. However, over the upcoming months, the level of activity will remain limited given the abundant supply of units on the new and existing home markets," said Geneviève Lapointe, CMHC's Senior Market Analyst for the Gatineau area.

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 2,245 units in February, up from 153 in January.

Preliminary housing starts data is also available in English and French at the following link: http://file.marketwire.com/release/1045900e1.pdf

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.

Tables and a graph are available at the following address: http://file.marketwire.com/release/10459001.pdf