January 2017 Housing Starts in Gatineau

MONTREAL, QUEBEC--(Marketwired - Feb. 8, 2017) - Housing starts in the Gatineau area were trending at 1,846 units in January, 2,129 compared to in December, 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.

In January, the housing starts trend dropped significantly. "In spite of this one-time decrease, the Gatineau area will post an increase in activity this year according to our forecast. In fact, stronger housing demand should promote a decrease in the number of unsold units in the new and existing home markets and support more residential construction," said Geneviève Lapointe, CMHC's Senior Market Analyst for the Gatineau area.

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 159 units in January, down from 2,443 in December.

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/1085169_Gatineau-E.pdf