July 2015 Housing Starts in Saskatoon

SASKATOON, SASKATCHEWAN--(Marketwired - Aug. 11, 2015) - Housing starts in the Saskatoon Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) were trending at 2,397 units in July compared to 2,424 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 declined moderately in July, as a small increase in the trend for single-detached starts was offset by a decline in the trend for multi-family starts. This year, the overall trend has been declining as builders have slowed the pace of new construction in response to weakening economic conditions and elevated supply levels. Accordingly, we expect fewer homes to be initiated in 2015 than in the previous year," said Lai Sing Louie, CMHC's Regional Economist for the Prairies and Territories Region.

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 2,112 units in July, down from 2,158 in June. In terms of actual numbers, single-detached starts declined year over year from 124 in July 2014 to 95 in July 2015. The multi-family sector fared somewhat better however, posting a modest year over year increase.

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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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://file.marketwire.com/release/20952e.pdf