July Housing Starts in New Brunswick

MONCTON, NEW BRUNSWICK--(Marketwire - Aug. 9, 2011) - Residential construction in New Brunswick's urban centres was slightly lower in July according to figures released today by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). Preliminary data¹ indicate that a total of 481 starts were recorded during the month compared to 491 starts for the same period in 2010.

"The decline in housing starts recorded in July was the result of lower multiple starts, as single starts in provincial urban centres for the month climbed seven per cent compared to last year ," said Claude Gautreau, CMHC's senior market analyst for New Brunswick. During the month of July, 175 single starts were recorded compared to 164 units last year. On a year-to-date basis, single starts are down 19 per cent to 578 units.

In July, multiple starts were down six per cent to 306 units. "Gains in the construction of multiple units in Moncton and Fredericton in July were more than offset by declines in Saint John. Year-to date, multiple starts are down 25 per cent to 736 units," added Gautreau.

In urban centres across Canada, total housing starts recorded in July were up three per cent to 16,486 units compared to last year's total of 15,947. Single-detached starts declined 11 per cent to 6,396 units, while multiple starts increased 15 per cent to 10,090 units in 2011. In the Atlantic region, 1,318 new units were started in July 2011 compared to 1,348 units during the same period in 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 NEW BRUNSWICK SUMMARY

	2011	2010		YEAR-TO -DATE
			% Change			% Change
	JULY	JULY		2011	2010
	ALL URBAN CENTRES WITH POPULATIONS > 50,000
SAINT JOHN CMA
Single	30	31	-3.2%	126	193	-34.7%
Multiple	31	189	-83.6%	91	291	-68.7%
TOTAL	61	220	-72.3%	217	484	-55.2%
MONCTON CMA
Single	50	59	-15.3%	194	240	-19.2%
Multiple	228	82	# #	464	481	-3.5%
TOTAL	278	141	97.2%	658	721	-8.7%
FREDERICTON CA
Single	68	51	33.3%	191	200	-4.5%
Multiple	47	30	56.7%	157	178	-11.8%
TOTAL	115	81	42.0%	348	378	-7.9%
	ALL URBAN CENTRES WITH POPULATION >10,000*
ALL CENTRES
Single	175	164	6.7%	578	713	-18.9%
Multiple	306	327	-6.4%	736	980	-24.9%
TOTAL	481	491	-2.0%	1,314	1,693	-22.4%

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 (Saint John CMA, Moncton CMA, Fredericton CA, Bathurst CA, Campbellton CA, Edmundston CA, and Miramichi CA).

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