June 2014 Housing Starts in Ottawa

OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - July 9, 2014) - Housing starts in Ottawa Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) were trending at 5,243 units in June compared to 4,932 units in May according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). This year the trend has hovered around the 5,000 units, in accordance with CMHC's housing starts forecast for 2014. The trend is a six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR)(1) of housing starts.

"In June starts activity trended lower for all dwelling types with the exception of semis. While low-rise construction decelerated from May levels, it remained higher than high-rise construction for the sixth consecutive month. Although average income in Ottawa has been improving, continued uncertainty with regard to employment has dampened housing market activity in the capital," said Sandra Perez Torres, Senior Market Analyst for Eastern and Northern Ontario.

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, analysing 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 multiples segment includes apartments, rows and semi-detached homes.

In Ottawa, the standalone monthly SAAR was 6,588 units in June down from 10,698 units in May.

This month the city core regained the highest share of starts due to the concentration of apartment construction in the area. Nepean, outside the greenbelt (OTG), had an edge over Kanata due to its higher share of row construction. The area captured a quarter of total starts and almost half of the CMA row starts. Year-to-date activity, Nepean (OTG) maintained its dominance over Kanata with 20.1 per cent of all starts compared to 15 per cent for the latter. While the two areas have an almost equal share of single-detached units, Nepean (OTG) has a significant edge in terms of row units.

Preliminary Housing Starts data is also available in English and French at the following link: Preliminary Housing Starts Tables

As Canada's national housing agency, CMHC draws on more than 65 years of experience to help Canadians access a variety of 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.

Follow CMHC on Twitter @CMHC_ca

(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://media3.marketwire.com/docs/956487a.pdf