Housing Starts in Montreal in December 2015

MONTRÉAL, QUÉBEC--(Marketwired - Jan. 11, 2016) - Housing starts in the Montréal census metropolitan area (CMA) were trending at 24,017 units in December, compared to 24,183 in November. The trend is a six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR) of housing starts.

"In December, the trend remained relatively high compared to the levels observed over the past few years in the Montréal metropolitan area. Again, the activity was supported by the start of rental housing projects, such that total rental housing starts for 2015 rose by nearly 80 per cent over 2014," said David L'Heureux, CMHC's Principal, Market Analysis, for Montréal.

"This increase was attributable to the construction of seniors' housing residences, but also to the significant climb in conventional rental housing starts. In fact, with the important slowdown in activity on the condominium market and the relatively low vacancy rates in newer rental buildings, many developers are turning to the conventional rental housing segment," he added.

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 24,161 units in December, up from 18,732 in November. The significant variation in the annual rate was due to an increase in starts in the rental housing segment.

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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Tables and a graph are available at the following address: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1038899a.pdf