July 2015 Housing Starts in Ontario

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Aug. 11, 2015) - Housing starts in the Ontario region were trending at 58,736 units in July, down from 60,305 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.

"For a second consecutive month, the trend in Ontario residential construction activity dipped due largely to the apartment sector. Low density housing construction, which is a better barometer of the health of the new construction market due to its stability, posted growth suggesting that economic fundamentals continue to support provincial home starts. An improving job market, strong resale markets and more resources released to commence construction on a backlog of sold apartment units will continue to support starts activity across the province," said Ted Tsiakopoulos, CMHC's Ontario Regional Economist.

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 SAAR of total urban housing starts was 49,047 units in July, down from 56,824 units in June. Urban centres outside of the GTA posted increases in the latest month. Ontario urban housing starts for the period ending July are running three per cent above levels for the same period one year ago.

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.

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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 table and a graph are available at the following address: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/TablesOntario.pdf