March 2016 Housing Starts in Gatineau

MONTRÉAL, QUÉBEC--(Marketwired - April 8, 2016) - Housing starts in the Gatineau area were trending at 1,410 units in March, 1,265 compared to 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) of housing starts.

In March, housing starts trended up for a second consecutive month. "The upward trend over the last two months was mainly attributable to the construction of condominium and rental multi-unit dwellings. Nevertheless, year-to-date housing starts remain below the average of the past few years," said Geneviève Lapointe, CMHC's Senior Market Analyst for the Gatineau area.

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, analyzing 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 stand-alone monthly SAAR was 2,028 units in March, down from 2,255 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.

For more information, visit our website at www.cmhc.ca or follow us on Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and Facebook.

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/1049854a.pdf