February 2016 Housing Starts in Ontario

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - March 8, 2016) - Housing starts in the Ontario region were trending at 72,411 units in February, down from 75,145 units 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 Ontario residential construction trend has plateaued - reaching its lowest level since September 2015. The apartment segment pulled overall construction activity lower while other dwelling types remained close to previous monthly levels. Despite improving economic conditions, lower levels of in-migration in recent years and a declining backlog of condominium sales that have yet to commence construction will result in lower levels of starts as we move through 2016," said Ted Tsiakopoulos, CMHC's Ontario Regional Economist.

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 SAAR of total urban housing starts remained elevated at 76,600 units in February, up from 57,370 units in January. For the period ending February 2016, Ontario urban home starts are running 25 per cent higher versus the same period one year ago largely due to stronger single starts. Northern and eastern Ontario urban construction markets are not faring as well relative to selected southern Ontario markets.

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/CMHC_1045995e.pdf