May 2015 Housing Starts in Thunder Bay

THUNDER BAY, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - June 8, 2015) - Housing starts in Thunder Bay, Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) were trending at 106 units in May, almost the same as 107 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 downward trend in housing starts in Thunder Bay, in evidence since January, continued in May. Abundant listings at the high end of the resale market are restraining new housing demand. Households considering building a new home may find something that meets their needs among these higher-priced listings in the resale market that are close substitutes to new houses. Weakening employment levels may also be dampening demand for new singles, as homeowners looking to sell a resale home before buying new may face a greater challenge finding a buyer," observed Warren Philp, CMHC Market Analyst.

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 standalone monthly SAAR was 167 units in May up from 107 units in April. This jump in the monthly SAAR because of the multiple unit activity in the month of May was stronger than usual.

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.

(Ce document existe également en français)

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