March 2016 Housing Starts in Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - April 8, 2016) - Housing starts in the Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) were trending at 2,876 units in March compared to 3,437 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) of housing starts.

"Total housing starts trended lower in March as the increase in the trend for single-detached starts was more than offset by the decreasing trend for other housing types. Single detached home starts in February trended at their highest levels when compared to recent year activity supported by strong in-migration and a tight resale market. Apartment starts are trending at the lowest level in two years as construction returns to a level in line with demographic demand," said Erica McLerie, Senior Market Analyst at CMHC.

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 multiples segment includes apartments, rows and semi-detached homes.

The SAAR of total housing starts was 2,021 units in March, down from 3,865 units in February. The decline in the SAAR was due to lower apartment and townhome starts. Actual starts for the first three months of the year declined 13 per cent from the same period in 2015 due to fewer apartment starts.

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/1049935a.pdf