May 2016 Housing Starts in the Saguenay CMA

QUÉBEC CITY, QUÉBEC--(Marketwired - June 8, 2016) - Housing starts in the Saguenay census metropolitan area (CMA) were trending at 293 units in May, compared to 272 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) of housing starts.

"The trend in Saguenay area housing starts has remained stable and rather weak from a historical standpoint since the beginning of the year. This is not surprising, given the significant supply of existing homes for sale and for rent in the area and the fact that employment has been showing signs of weakness," said Nicolas Bernatchez, 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, 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 stand-alone monthly SAAR was 487 units in May, up from 368 in April.

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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To view the graph and tables associated with this release, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1057905e.pdf