July 2015 Housing Starts in Hamilton CMA

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Aug. 11, 2015) - Housing starts in Hamilton Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) were trending up at 1,705 units in July compared to 1,495 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.

"The trend in Hamilton CMA total housing starts increased in July 2015, mostly due to a continued strength in townhouse construction and a rebound in apartment starts. This month's spike in apartment starts reflected a high number of condominium apartments started in the City of Burlington. A tight resale market with a lower supply of affordable homes has encouraged some buyers to purchase new apartment condominiums and townhouses, which are relatively less expensive," said Abdul Kargbo, CMHC's Senior Market Analyst for Hamilton and Brantford CMAs.

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 2,628 units in July, up slightly from 2,607 units in June, marking four consecutive monthly increases. Single-detached housing starts were up in July, offsetting the modest decline in multi-unit housing starts.

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.

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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Tables and a graph are available at the following address: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1020857e.pdf