March 2016 Housing Starts in Gatineau

MONTRÉAL, QUÉBEC--(Marketwired - May 9, 2016) - Housing starts in the Gatineau area were trending at 1,540 units in April, compared to 1,416 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) of housing starts.

Housing starts trended higher for a second straight month in April. "The growth in residential construction observed in recent months in the greater Gatineau area was attributable to the start of a few condominium projects, mostly in the Aylmer sector. This increase resulted from a rise in housing demand, which was mainly supported by strong employment in the area," said Tania Bourassa-Ochoa, 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 1,965 units in April, down from 2,078 in March.

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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To view the graph and tables associated with this release, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1053617e.pdf