July 2015 Housing Starts in Regina

REGINA, SASKATCHEWAN--(Marketwired - Aug. 11, 2015) - Housing starts in the Regina Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) were trending at 1,787 units in July compared to 1,661 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 moved higher in July and this was driven entirely by an increase in the multi-family starts trend when compared to June," said Lai Sing Louie, CMHC's Regional Economist for the Prairies and Territories Region. "However, in spite of July's trend increase, Regina's total housing starts are still expected to end the year lower than in 2014 as weaker economic conditions and elevated inventories of new homes add downward pressure to new construction over the remaining months of 2015," added Louie.

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.

The standalone monthly SAAR was 2,160 units in July, down from 3,452 in June as declines in SAAR were recorded in both the single-family and multi-family apartment segments. Overall, actual housing starts in July decreased significantly compared to the previous year with builders initiating a total of 185 units in July 2015 compared to 348 units in July 2014.

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/1020967e.pdf.