January Housing Starts Decline in St. Catharines-Niagara

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Feb. 8, 2011) - Preliminary data for January 2011 released today by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) for the St. Catharines-Niagara Census Metropolitan Area(i) (CMA) show a decline in housing starts to 45 units from 114 units a year earlier.

In January, builders broke ground for 36 new single-detached homes compared to 75 homes in January 2010. Housing starts for single-detached homes declined by 52 per cent in January 2011 compared to the same month last year. Single, semi-detached and townhouse construction were all down in January with no activity for apartment construction. Three quarters of housing starts in 2011 were for single-detached homes. Housing starts in Niagara Region declined compared to 2010 levels due to much lower activity overall but especially in St. Catharines and Niagara Falls.

"Prices on new single-detached homes may have slowed demand for new homes," said Anthony Adrien, Market Analyst with CMHC. "We saw some price appreciation for new single-detached homes in the last quarter of 2010. Land constraints on single-detached construction are an ongoing challenge in some municipalities," added Adrien.

To view "St. Catharines - Niagara CMA", please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/stcath208.pdf.

To view "Monthly Housing Starts", please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/mhs208.pdf.

To view the table associated with this press release, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/table207.pdf.

As Canada's national housing agency, CMHC draws on more than 60 years of experience to help Canadians access a variety of quality, environmentally sustainable and affordable homes. 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 vital decisions.

For more information, please visit www.cmhc.ca or call 1-800-668-2642.

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(i) Statistics Canada defines a census metropolitan area (CMA) as one or more adjacent municipalities integrated with an urban core. A CMA must have a total population of at least 100,000 of which 50,000 or more must live in the urban core.