May 2013 Housing Starts in Quebec

MONTRÉAL, QUÉBEC--(Marketwired - June 10, 2013) - Housing starts in the province of Quebec were trending at 31,061 units in May compared to 32,619 in April, 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.

"In Quebec urban centres, year-to-date residential housing starts are down by 26 per cent from last year. The magnitude of this decrease reflects both the situation of single-detached homes and multi-family dwellings. Moreover, the majority of the province's major centres present a similar picture," said Kevin Hughes, CMHC Regional Economist for the province of Quebec.

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.

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.

Additional data is available upon request.

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^[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.

A graph and tables are available at the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/2013_06_10_0815_EQP.pdf