July Housing Starts for the St. John's Area

ST. JOHN'S, NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR--(Marketwire - Aug. 9, 2011) - Housing starts in the St. John's region were up during the month of July, according to preliminary data¹ released today by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). July's housing starts totaled 258 units throughout the St. John's area compared to 176 units in July of 2010. There were 24 additional starts recorded in urban centres outside the St. John's region, for a total of 282 provincial urban housing starts.

"A sizeable increase in multiple housing starts activity contributed to the overall gains in new home construction throughout the St. John's area in July," said Chris Janes, senior market analyst with CMHC in Newfoundland and Labrador. "Single-detached starts were up 12 per cent in July to 154 units. Despite the monthly gains, the trend towards lower levels of single housing starts in 2011 remains, with this segment of the market down 15 per cent compared to a year ago," added Janes.

In urban centres across Canada, total housing starts recorded in July were up three per cent to 16,486 units compared to 15,947 a year ago. Single-detached starts declined 11 per cent to 6,396 units, while multiple starts increased 15 per cent to 10,090 units in July. In the Atlantic region, 1,318 new homes were started compared to 1,348 units during July 2010.

As Canada's national housing agency, CMHC draws on 65 years of experience to help Canadians access a variety of high quality, environmentally sustainable and affordable homes. CMHC also provides reliable, impartial and up-to-date housing market reports, analysis and knowledge to support and assist consumers and the housing industry in making informed decisions.

¹ Figures for the most recent month are preliminary and subject to revisions due to corrections or updates from quarterly enumeration or sampling results.

For more information, visit www.cmhc.ca or call 1-800-668-2642.

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PRELIMINARY URBAN MONTHLY HOUSING STARTS
NEWFOUNDLAND & LABRADOR SUMMARY
	2011	2010			YEAR-TO-DATE
			% Change				% Change
	JUL	JUL			2011	2010
ALL URBAN CENTRES WITH POPULATIONS > 50,000
ST. JOHN'S CMA
Single	154	138	11.6	%	714	836	-14.6	%
Multiple	104	38	##		357	162	##
TOTAL	258	176	46.6	%	1,071	998	7.3	%
ALL URBAN CENTRES WITH POPULATION >10,000
ALL CENTRES*
Single	172	179	-3.9	%	823	974	-15.5	%
Multiple	110	51	##		404	215	87.9	%
TOTAL	282	230	22.6	%	1,227	1,189	3.2	%

Figures for the most recent month are preliminary and subject to revisions due to corrections or updates from quarterly enumeration or sampling results.

* Includes all centres with a total population of more than 10,000 (St. John's CMA, Corner Brook CA, Gander MD, Grand Falls/Windsor CA, and Bay Roberts CA)

## Indicates changes in excess of 100% which are not reported due to volatility resulting from small absolute numbers.