July 2013 Housing Starts in Ottawa

OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Aug. 9, 2013) - Housing starts in Ottawa Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) were trending at 6,482 units in July compared to 5,690 units 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.

"Seasonally adjusted housing starts rallied in July following robust June activity. Townhome construction activity posted very healthy growth, particularly in Ottawa's outskirts. Rows are becoming increasingly popular as they provide a more affordable alternative to single-detached housing and more space than condominium units," said Sandra Perez Torres, Senior Market Analyst for Eastern and Northern Ontario.

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. In Ottawa, the standalone monthly SAAR was 11,351 units in July up from 7,550 units in June.

In July, Gloucester (outside the greenbelt) captured just under one-third of all single-detached housing starts, and slightly over half of all row construction. Kanata secured 24 per cent of all singles and 17 per cent of rows. Cumberland came in third place for row construction with a 14 per cent share. Meanwhile, the city core continued to dominate apartment construction. Due to the continued strength in apartment construction this month, construction inside the greenbelt came 4 per cent higher than construction in the outskirts. Worthy of note is that 139 units out of the 473 apartments were geared toward social housing.

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.

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⁽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.

(Ce document existe également en français)

Tables and a graph are available at the following address: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/891362-eng.pdf