November 2012 Housing Starts in Canada

OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Dec. 10, 2012) - Housing starts in Canada were trending at 214,680 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 standalone monthly SAAR was 196,125 units in November, down from 203,487 in October.

"As expected, housing starts remained below their recent trend and continued to fall for a third straight month. This decrease was mainly attributable to declines in single-detached and multi-unit housing construction in Ontario and British Columbia, resulting in part from a decline in the pace of pre-sales relative to that in late 2010 and early 2011," said Mathieu Laberge, Deputy Chief Economist at CMHC. "The drop in starts in Atlantic Canada was primarily due to a decrease in multi-unit housing construction in Halifax, following higher than normal activity in October," added Laberge.

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 volatile from one month to the next.

The seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts decreased by 4.0 per cent to 174,323 units in November. Urban single starts declined by 5.4 per cent to 58,606 units, while urban multiple starts fell by 3.2 per cent to 115,717 units.

November's seasonally adjusted annual rates of urban starts fell in Ontario (-14.3 per cent), British Columbia (-16.5 per cent) and Atlantic Canada (-45.6 per cent). Urban starts rose in Quebec (+15.4 per cent) and the Prairies (+16.1 per cent).

Rural starts² were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 21,802 units in November.

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 were maintained for 12 months. This facilitates comparison of the current pace of activity to annual forecasts as well as to historical annual levels.

² CMHC estimates the level of starts in centres with a population of less than 10,000 for each of the three months of the quarter, at the beginning of each quarter. During the last month of the quarter, CMHC conducts the survey in these centres and revises the estimate.

Preliminary housing starts data is also available in English and French at the following link: Preliminary Housing Starts Tables.

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

Follow CMHC on Twitter @CMHC_ca

Additional data is available upon request.

This release is also available at www.cmhc.ca.

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Preliminary Housing Starts Data November 2011-2012
Canada	November 2011	November 2012
Actual, all areas	17,116	17,646
Actual, rural areas	1,914	1,888
Actual, urban centres 1
November - Single-detached	6,293	5,330
November - Multiples	8,909	10,428
November - Total	15,202	15,758
January to November - Single-detached	61,588	61,192
January to November - Multiples	97,820	116,664
January to November - Total	159,408	177,856
	October 2012	November 2012
SAAR2, all areas	203,487	196,125
SAAR, rural areas	21,973	21,802
SAAR, urban centres 1
Single-detached	61,943	58,606
Multiples	119,571	115,717
Total	181,514	174,323
Atlantic Canada, urban centres	12,379	6,732
Quebec, urban centres	34,782	40,134
Ontario, urban centres	65,098	55,778
Prairies, urban centres	42,549	49,379
British Columbia, urban centres	26,706	22,300

Source: CMHC

¹ Urban centres with a population of 10,000 or over

² Seasonally adjusted annual rates

Detailed data available upon request