May 2016 Housing Starts Up in Vancouver

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - June 8, 2016) - Housing starts in the Vancouver Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) were trending at 28,267 units in May compared to 27,304 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) of housing starts.

"Housing starts are trending higher than last month for all home types," said Robyn Adamache, CMHC Principal Market Analyst for Vancouver. "So far this year, actual single-detached and multiple starts have outpaced last year's totals for the same period in response to low inventories of unsold new homes and high demand for ownership and rental housing."

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 23,611 units in May, down from 32,876 units in April due to a decrease in multiple-family home starts.

Housing starts in the Abbotsford-Mission CMA were trending at 1,291 units in May, up from 1,278 units in April as construction increased for single and semi-detached homes.

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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Tables and a graph are available at the following address: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1058193_VAN.pdf