January 2017 Housing Starts in Hamilton CMA

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Feb. 8, 2017) - Housing starts in Hamilton Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) were trending down at 3,617 units in January compared to 3,833 units 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.

"The trend in Hamilton CMA total housing starts was down entirely due to fewer multi-unit housing starts in January 2017 compared to the previous month. The trend in single-detached housing starts was up but not enough to completely offset the decline in multi-unit housing starts," said Abdul Kargbo, CMHC's Senior Market Analyst for Hamilton and Brantford CMAs. "The trend in multi-unit housing starts reached a record level in 2016, reflecting strong first-time buyer demand. The record housing starts in 2016 will likely result in fewer multi-unit housing starts in 2017 as the number of units currently under construction is at an elevated level."

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, analysing 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 multiples segment includes apartments, rows and semi-detached homes.

The standalone monthly SAAR was 2,978 units in January, down from 9,543 units in December. The January decrease in the SAAR measure was due to fewer single-detached, townhouse and apartment starts compared to 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/1085132a.pdf