November 2012 Housing Starts In Halifax

HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA--(Marketwire - Dec. 10, 2012) - Housing starts in Halifax, Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) were trending at 3,631 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 1,693 units in November, down from 7,064 in October.

"The pace of residential construction in the HRM slowed last month," said Matthew Gilmore CMHC's Senior Market Analyst for Halifax. "The reduced level of new construction starts in the city was largely attributed to a significant reduction in apartment construction as no new apartments were started in November compared to 479 units in October," Gilmore added. "In the single-detached segment of the market, starts also declined in November," said Gilmore.

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.

Single-detached starts added 76 actual units in November 2012 compared to 84 units last year. Multiple starts totalled 62 actual units in November compared to 42 units reported in November of last year. Year-to-date total starts have reached 2,642 actual units with multiple starts at 1,734 units and single starts at 908 units. After eleven months of the year, total starts are above the level recorded last year.

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 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.

Additional data is available upon request

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A graph is available at the following address: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/ns_eng1210.pdf.

Preliminary Housing Start Data
November 2012
Halifax, CMA1			November 2011	November 2012
	Actual
		November - Single-Detached	84	76
		November - Multiples	42	62
		November - Total	126	138
		January to November - Single- Detached	837	908
		January to November - Multiples	1,609	1,734
		January to November - Total	2,446	2,642
			October 2012	November 2012
	SAAR2
		Total	7,064	1,693

Source:	CMHC
1	Census Metropolitan Area
2	Seasonally Adjusted at Annual Rates
	Detailed data available upon request.

Nova Scotia Preliminary Actual Housing Start Data
November / 2011-2012
Urban Centres	Single-Detached		Multiples		Total
	2011	2012	2011	2012	2011	2012
Urban Centres 100,000+
Halifax CMA	84	76	42	62	126	138
Cape Breton RGM	8	11	13	4	21	15
Total Urban Starts1	150	104	64	70	214	174
Nova Scotia Preliminary Actual Housing Start Data
January - November / 2011-2012
Urban Centres	Single-Detached		Multiples		Total
	2011	2012	2011	2012	2011	2012
Urban Centres 100,000+
Halifax CMA	837	908	1,609	1,734	2,446	2,642
Cape Breton RGM	109	147	127	133	236	280
Total Urban Starts1	1,482	1,538	1,941	2,001	3,423	3,539

¹Urban starts include an estimate for the areas 10,000-49,999 for the first two months in a quarter and are subject to revision(s) after quarterly enumeration in the third and final month of the quarter.