June 2015 Housing Starts in Thunder Bay

THUNDER BAY, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - July 9, 2015) - Housing starts in Thunder Bay, Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) were trending at 116 units in June, up from 107 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 slight upward trend in housing starts in Thunder Bay comes as a result of strength in the June starts numbers just released. Despite this strengthening, new resale listings grew in the second quarter, reaching a level not seen in a second quarter since 2006. A higher number of new listings generally translates into fewer starts following a lag since listings, especially those at the high end of the market, serve as an alternative to building a new home," observed Warren Philp, CMHC Market Analyst.

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 standalone monthly SAAR was 313 units in June up from 169 units in May. This jump in the monthly SAAR came because of the relatively strong singles starts activity in the month of June.

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.

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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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A table and a graph are available at the following address: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/116378a.pdf