February 2016 Housing Starts in Kingston

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - March 8, 2016) - Housing starts in the Kingston Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) were trending at 460 units in February compared to 706 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.

"Housing starts in Kingston were trending lower for the month of February driven primarily by fewer apartment starts. The decreasing trends for starts have been a result of slow employment growth and ample choice from the resale market, which have builders sitting on the sidelines." said Aris Gianneskis, CMHC's Market Analyst for Kingston.

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 standalone monthly SAAR was 375 units in February up from 58 in January as more single-detached units were supplied to the housing market.

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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A table and a graph are available at the following address: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1045965a.pdf