May 2015 Housing Starts in Ontario

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - June 8, 2015) - Housing starts in the Ontario region were trending at 60.026 units in May, up from 55,601 units 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.

"The trend in residential construction activity rose for a third consecutive month in May reaching its highest level since early 2014. The increase in the Ontario construction trend was broad based and stretched across a number of housing segments and markets. Low rental vacancy rates, strong resale markets and more resources released to commence construction on a backlog of sold apartment units drove starts activity in recent months," said Ted Tsiakopoulos, CMHC's Ontario Regional Economist.

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 SAAR of total urban housing starts was 81,535 units in May, up sharply from 61,666 units in April. With the exception of semi detached homes, all other dwellings saw increased activity. Nearly three quarters of Ontario urban centres posted increases in May. Ontario urban housing starts for the period ending May are running 10 per cent above levels for the same period one year ago.

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.

Follow CMHC on Twitter @CMHC_ca

(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.

Additional data is available upon request.

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A table and a graph are available at the following address: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1011308a.pdf