July Housing Starts in New Brunswick

MONCTON, NEW BRUNSWICK--(Marketwire - Aug. 9, 2012) - Residential construction activity in New Brunswick's urban centres was down in July according to figures released today by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). Preliminary data¹ indicate that a total of 269 starts were recorded during the month compared to 489 starts for the same period in 2011.

"The decline in residential construction activity observed in July stemmed mainly from reduced multiple starts in New Brunswick's large urban centres, particularly in the rental market," said Claude Gautreau, CMHC's senior market analyst for New Brunswick. Multiple starts in July of 2012 stood at 122 units. In comparison, 317 multiple starts were recorded in provincial urban centres during the same period last year. Single starts were also down in July, with a 15 per cent, year-over-year decline to 147 units.

In urban centres across Canada, total housing starts recorded in July were down two per cent to 16,876 units compared to 17,230 a year ago. Single-detached starts decreased eight per cent to 6,315 units, while multiple starts were up two per cent to 10,561 units in July. In the Atlantic region, 890 new units were started compared to 1,409 units during July 2011.

As Canada's national housing agency, CMHC draws on more than 65 years of experience to help Canadians access a variety of high quality, environmentally sustainable and affordable housing solutions. 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.

For more information, visit www.cmhc.ca or call 1-800-668-2642. CMHC Market Analysis standard reports are also available free for download at CMHC Housing Market Information.

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

PRELIMINARY URBAN MONTHLY HOUSING STARTS NEW BRUNSWICK SUMMARY
	2012	2011	% Change		YEAR-TO-DATE		% Change
	JULY	JULY			2012	2011
ALL URBAN CENTRES WITH POPULATIONS > 50,000
SAINT JOHN CMA
Single	23	30	-23.3	%	112	126	-11.1	%
Multiple	4	31	-87.1	%	36	91	-60.4	%
TOTAL	27	61	-55.7	%	148	217	-31.8	%
MONCTON CMA
Single	49	50	-2.0	%	221	194	13.9	%
Multiple	100	228	-56.1	%	533	464	14.9	%
TOTAL	149	278	-46.4	%	754	658	14.6	%
FREDERICTON CA
Single	48	68	-29.4	%	193	191	1.0	%
Multiple	18	47	-61.7	%	99	157	-36.9	%
TOTAL	66	115	-42.6	%	292	348	-16.1	%
ALL URBAN CENTRES WITH POPULATION >10,000*
ALL CENTRES
Single	147	172	-14.5	%	622	575	8.2	%
Multiple	122	317	-61.5	%	689	747	-7.8	%
TOTAL	269	489	-45.0	%	1,311	1,322	-0.8	%

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.