May 2014 Housing Starts in Canada

OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - June 9, 2014) - Housing starts in Canada were trending at 184,438 units in May compared to 183,872 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 May, the trend in housing starts was virtually unchanged for the third consecutive month. This is in line with CMHC's analysis indicating that the new home construction market in Canada is headed for a soft landing in 2014," said Bruno Duhamel, Manager, Housing and Economic Analysis. "Builders are expected to continue to manage their starts activity in order to ensure that demand from buyers seeking new units is first channeled toward unsold completed units or unsold units that are currently under construction, including condominium units."

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 standalone monthly SAAR was 198,324 units in May, a slight increase from 196,687 in April. The SAAR of urban starts increased to 180,813 units. Multiple urban starts decreased to 117,709 units while the single-detached urban starts segment increased to 63,104 units.

In May, the seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts increased in Atlantic Canada, Quebec, and British Columbia, held steady in Ontario, and decreased in the Prairies.

Rural starts⁽²⁾ were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 17,511 units.

Preliminary Housing Starts data is also available in English and French at the following link: Preliminary Housing Starts Tables

⁽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.

⁽²⁾ CMHC estimates the level of starts in centres with a population of less than 10,000 for each of the three months of the quarter, at the beginning of each quarter. During the last month of the quarter, CMHC conducts the survey in these centres and revises the estimate.

As Canada's national housing agency, CMHC draws on more than 65 years of experience to help Canadians access a variety of high 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.

Follow CMHC on Twitter @CMHC_ca

This release is also available at www.cmhc.ca.

Additional data is available upon request.

(Ce document existe également en français)

A table and a graph are available at the following address: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/950724a.pdf