February Housing Starts in New Brunswick

MONCTON, NEW BRUNSWICK--(Marketwire - March 8, 2012) - Residential construction activity in New Brunswick's urban centres increased in February according to figures released today by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). Preliminary data¹ indicate that a total of 25 starts were recorded during the month compared to 22 starts for the same period in 2011.

"The rise in single starts was partially offset by fewer multiple starts during the month of February," said Claude Gautreau, CMHC's senior market analyst for New Brunswick. Single starts in February totalled 19 units in provincial urban centres, up from last year's monthly total of 10 units. Multiple starts were down to six units from last year's February total of 12 units. Year-to-date, both single and multiple starts are ahead of last year's pace.

In urban centres across Canada, total housing starts recorded in February were up 15 per cent to 11,498 units compared to 10,024 a year ago. Single-detached starts increased two per cent to 3,487 units, while multiple starts increased 21 per cent to 8,011 units in February. In the Atlantic region, 256 new units were started compared to 278 during February 2011.

As Canada's national housing agency, CMHC draws on more than 65 years of experience to help Canadians access a variety of high quality, environmentally sustainable and affordable housing solutions. CMHC also provides reliable, impartial and up-to-date housing market reports, analysis and knowledge to support and assist consumers and the housing industry in making informed decisions.

For more information, visit www.cmhc.ca or call 1-800-668-2642. CMHC Market Analysis standard reports are also available free for download at CMHC Housing Market Information.

¹ Figures for the most recent month are preliminary and subject to revisions due to corrections or updates from quarterly enumeration or sampling results.

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PRELIMINARY URBAN MONTHLY HOUSING STARTS NEW BRUNSWICK SUMMARY
	2012	2011	% Change	YEAR-TO-DATE		% Change
	FEB	FEB		2012	2011
ALL URBAN CENTRES WITH POPULATIONS > 50,000
SAINT JOHN CMA
Single	2	6	-66.7%	12	16	-25.0%
Multiple	2	12	-83.3%	17	12	41.7%
TOTAL	4	18	-77.8%	29	28	3.6%
MONCTON CMA
Single	6	2	##	15	10	50.0%
Multiple	4	0	-	80	0	-
TOTAL	10	2	##	95	10	##
FREDERICTON CA
Single	2	2	0.0%	18	31	-41.9%
Multiple	0	0	-	4	4	0.0%
TOTAL	2	2	0.0%	22	35	-37.1%
ALL URBAN CENTRES WITH POPULATION >10,000*
ALL CENTRES
Single	19	10	90.0%	63	58	8.6%
Multiple	6	12	-50.0%	101	16	##
TOTAL	25	22	13.6%	164	74	##

Figures for the most recent month are preliminary and subject to revisions due to corrections or updates from quarterly enumeration or sampling results.

* Includes all centres with a total population of more than 10,000 (Saint John CMA, Moncton CMA, Fredericton CA, Bathurst CA, Campbellton CA, Edmundston CA, and Miramichi CA).

## Indicates changes in excess of 100% which are not reported due to volatility resulting from small absolute numbers.