London New Home Starts Turn Up in September

LONDON, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Oct. 11, 2011) - New home starts were up in the London Census Metropolitan Area(1) (CMA) in September according to preliminary figures released today by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). Builders laid foundations for 142 homes compared to 125 in September 2010.

"Total starts turned up in September, but the underlying trend is fairly flat," said Margot Stevenson, CMHC's Senior Market Analyst for London. "Apartment starts are volatile. The main reason starts are up this month is because there were 17 apartment starts whereas in September last year, there were none," added Stevenson.

While single detached starts were up this month, builders have started only 900 single-detached homes year-to-date compared to 1,185 in the first three quarters of 2010. Total starts are 24 per cent below last year for the same period.

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. For more information visit www.cmhc.ca or call 1-800-668-2642.

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To view the tables associated with this release, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/london_table-eng.pdf.

Rest of CMA: Central Elgin, Thames Centre, and the Townships of Middlesex Centre, Southwold, Strathroy-Caradoc and Adelaide-Metcalfe

(1) Statistics Canada defines a census metropolitan area (CMA) as one or more adjacent municipalities integrated with an urban core. A CMA must have a total population of at least 100,000 of which 50,000 or more must live in the urban core.