February 2016 Housing Starts in the Quebec CMA

QUÉBEC CITY, QUÉBEC--(Marketwired - March 8, 2016) - Housing starts in the Québec census metropolitan area (CMA) were trending at 4,707 units in February, compared to 5,514 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 observed in the Québec region was attributable to the low level of activity in the conventional rental housing and condominium segments. In fact, in 2016, residential construction is expected to be limited by the increase in the rental vacancy rate and the relatively high inventory of unsold condominium units," said Élisabeth Koulouris, CMHC's Principal, Market Analysis, for the Québec CMA

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 3,483 units in February, down from 1,387 in January. The significant change in the annual rate was due to the multiples segment, which often shows notable variations from one month to the next.

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.

(Ce document existe également en français.)

Tables and a graph are available at the following address: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1045937a.pdf