January 2013 Housing Starts in Prince Edward Island

MONCTON, NEW BRUNSWICK--(Marketwire - Feb. 8, 2013) - Housing starts in Prince Edward Island were trending at 911 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)¹ of housing starts.

"For the month of January, new home construction was above last year's level, due to a significant increase in multiple starts in Charlottetown. During the same period, single starts in both Charlottetown and Summerside did not reach the levels met in 2012," said Jason Beaton, CMHC's Market Analyst for Prince Edward Island.

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 standalone monthly SAAR was 1,507 units in January, up from 951 in December.

Preliminary Housing Starts data is also available in English and French at the following link: Preliminary Housing Starts Tables

As Canada's national housing agency, CMHC draws on more than 65 years of experience to help Canadians access a variety of 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.

Follow CMHC on Twitter @CMHC_ca

^[1] All starts figures in this release, other than actual starts and the trend estimate, are seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR) - that is, monthly figures adjusted to remove normal seasonal variation and multiplied by 12 to reflect annual levels. By removing seasonal ups and downs, seasonal adjustment allows for a comparison from one season to the next and from one month to the next. Reporting monthly figures at annual rates indicates the annual level of starts that would be obtained if the monthly pace was maintained for 12 months. This facilitates comparison of the current pace of activity to annual forecasts as well as to historical annual levels.

Additional data is available upon request

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A graph is available at the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/cmhc_graph_eng_pei_0208.pdf

Preliminary Housing Start Data
January / 2012-2013
Province, Centres 10,000+		January 2012	January 2013
Actual, urban centres1
	January - Single-Detached	11	2
	January - Multiples	-	122
	January - Total	11	124
	January to January - Single-Detached	11	2
	January to January - Multiples	-	122
	January to January - Total	11	124
		December 2012	January 2013
SAAR2, urban centres1
	Total	951	1,507
Source: CMHC
1 Urban centres with a population of 10,000 and over.
2 Seasonally Adjusted at Annual Rates
Detailed data available on request.

Prince Edward Island Preliminary Actual Housing Start Data
January / 2012-2013
Urban Centres	Single-Detached		Multiples		Total
	2012	2013	2012	2013	2012	2013
Urban Centres 10,000+
Charlottetown CA	10	2	0	122	10	124
Summerside CA	1	0	0	0	1	0
Total Urban Starts	11	2	0	122	11	124
Prince Edward Island Preliminary Actual Housing Start Data
January / 2012-2013
Urban Centres	Single-Detached		Multiples			Total
	2011	2012	2011	2012	2011	2012
Urban Centres 10,000+
Charlottetown CA	10	2	0	122	10	124
Summerside CA	1	0	0	0	1	0
Total Urban Starts	11	2	0	122	11	124