March 2013 Housing Starts in Prince Edward Island

MONCTON, NEW BRUNSWICK--(Marketwired - April 9, 2013) - Housing starts in Prince Edward Island were trending at 683 units in March, 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 total housing starts continued to moderate in March after a strong start to the year in January. Lower levels of multiple starts in March contributed to the decline in both the trend and SAAR numbers for the month," said Jason Beaton, CMHC's Market Analyst for Prince Edward Island.

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 263 units in March, down from 317 in February.

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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A graph is available at the following address: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/PEIHousingStarts.pdf

Preliminary Housing Start Data
March 2013
Prince Edward Island, Centres 10,000+			March 2012	March 2013
	Actual, urban centres1
		March - Single-Detached	5	5
		March - Multiples	-	3
		March - Total	5	8
		January to March - Single-Detached	24	11
		January to March - Multiples	-	133
		January to March - Total	24	144
			February 2013	March 2013
SAAR2, urban centres1
		Total	317	263

Source: CMHC

1 Urban centres with a population of 10,000 and over.

2 Seasonally Adjusted at Annual Rates

Detailed data available on request.

Prince Edward Island Preliminary Actual Housing Start Data
First Quarter / 2012-2013
Urban Centres	Single-Detached		Multiples		Total
	2012	2013	2012	2013	2012	2013
Urban Centres 10,000+
Charlottetown CA	3	4	0	2	3	6
Summerside CA	2	1	0	1	2	2
Total Urban Starts	5	5	0	3	5	8
Prince Edward Island Preliminary Actual Housing Start Data
January to March / 2012-2013
Urban Centres	Single-Detached		Multiples		Total
	2012	2013	2012	2013	2012	2013
Urban Centres 10,000+
Charlottetown CA	20	9	0	124	20	133
Summerside CA	4	2	0	9	4	11
Total Urban Starts	24	11	0	133	24	144