June 2015 Housing Starts in Brantford CMA

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - July 9, 2015) - Housing starts in Brantford, Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) were trending down at 539 units in June compared to 562 units in May, 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 housing starts.

"The trend in Brantford CMA total housing starts was down in June 2015, entirely due to fewer single-detached housing starts. The increase in townhouse starts was not enough to completely offset the decline in single-detached housing starts. Strong employment growth among the 25 to 44 age group continued to support the demand for townhouses. This age group has a higher concentration of first-time buyers, who tend to be more price-sensitive than other buyers. New townhouses are generally more affordable than new single-detached dwellings," said Abdul Kargbo, CMHC's Senior Market Analyst for the Hamilton and Brantford CMAs.

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.

The standalone monthly SAAR was 419 units in June, down from 582 units in May. Similar to the trend measure, the June decrease in the SAAR measure of housing starts reflected a slower pace in single-detached housing construction. Despite this month's decline, year-to-date ending in June, single-detached housing starts are up 15 per cent compared to the first six months of 2014.

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.

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/1016362e.pdf