July 2015 Housing Starts in Edmonton

EDMONTON, ALBERTA--(Marketwired - Aug. 11, 2015) - Housing starts in the Edmonton Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) were trending at 18,504 units in July compared to 19,226 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 total housing starts.

"The trend in total housing starts decreased in July as the trend in both single-detached and multi-family units declined. Moving forward, the decline in the trend is expected to continue as economic conditions remain soft," said Christina Butchart, CMHC's Principal, Market Analysis for Edmonton.

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.

While the trend in housing starts moved lower in July, the standalone monthly SAAR increased to 19,922 units last month from 15,349 in June. Actual housing starts totalled 1,723 units in July, up 53 per cent from 1,126 in July 2014. Higher multi-family starts, of which 44 per cent were intended for the rental market, offset the decline in single-detached starts to increase total starts on a year-over-year basis.

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.

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.

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Additional data is available upon request

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To view the graph and tables associated with this release, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1020955e.pdf