November 2012 Housing Starts in British Columbia

VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Dec. 10, 2012) - Housing starts in British Columbia were trending at 27,059 units in November, 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 stand-alone monthly SAAR was 22,300 units in November, down from 26,706 units in October.

"The six-month trend measure of housing starts held steady in November due to marginally lower levels of single detached homebuilding offset by slightly more apartment starts," said Carol Frketich, CMHC's British Columbia 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.

Single-detached starts added 456 actual units in November 2012. Multiple-family starts totalled 1,395 actual units in November, compared to 1,615 units reported in November of last year. Year-to-date total urban starts have reached 23,965 actual units with multiple-family projects accounting for three- quarters of housing starts so far in 2012. Overall, across the urban centres in the province, total starts this year remained ahead of the number recorded last year.

Preliminary Housing Starts data is also available in English and French at the following link: http://www.cmhc.gc.ca/en/hoficlincl/homain/stda/index.cfm

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

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.

Follow CMHC on Twitter @CMHC_ca

Additional data is available upon request.

(Ce document existe également en français)

To view the tables and graph associated with this press release, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/cmhc-bc-112012.pdf.