July 2013 Housing Starts in Ontario

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Aug. 9, 2013) - Housing starts in the Ontario region were trending up at 58,376 units in July, compared to 55,653 in June, 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.

"A pullback in Ontario's housing construction seems to have stopped for now. Ontario's housing starts trend, which is down from last year, has been essentially flat for four months. The latest month's home starts trend is up a little, with multiple family construction,mostly apartment condominiums, leading the way. Home prices are high, so it is not surprising that the more affordable new home types, such as condominium apartments, have been very popular," said Alex Medow, CMHC Ontario Senior Market Analyst.

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 standalone monthly SAAR was 59,547 units in July, down from 60,378 units in June.

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 and a table are available at the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/cota0809.pdf.