March 2015 Housing Starts in Vancouver

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - April 10, 2015) - Housing starts in the Vancouver Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) were trending at 18,195 units in March compared to 17,462 units in February, 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.

"Single-detached home construction continued to increase in step with the trend established last spring," said Robyn Adamache, Principal, Market Analysis. "Multi-family housing starts also moved higher in March, following a brief dip in apartment and town home starts the previous month."

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 23,861 units in March 2015, up from 13,388 units in February 2015. The start of several rental and condominium apartment projects, mostly concentrated in Surrey, North Vancouver and the University Endowment Lands, accounted for the increase in March.

Housing starts in the Abbotsford-Mission CMA were trending at 499 units in March 2015, down from 536 units in February.

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.

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.

Follow CMHC on Twitter @CMHC_ca

Additional data is available upon request.

(Ce document existe également en français)

To view the full press release, including graphs and tables, please click on the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1001216.pdf