November 2012 Housing Starts in Vancouver

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Dec. 10, 2012) - Housing starts in the Vancouver Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) were trending at 19,968 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 14,991 units in November, compared to 20,788 in October.

"Housing starts have been trending at between 19,000 and 20,000 units since mid year, with single detached home starts edging lower and multiple-family starts maintaining a steady pace," said Robyn Adamache, CMHC's Senior Market Analyst for Vancouver.

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.

Actual total housing starts in November were 1,240 units with 220 single detached houses and 1,020 multiple-family homes. Year-to-date housing starts totalled 17,840, higher than the 16,668 housing starts recorded in the same period last year.

Housing starts in the Abbotsford-Mission CMA were trending at 321 units in November. The stand- alone monthly SAAR was 361 units in November. Both the trend and SAAR figures were above October levels.

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.

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Additional data is available upon request.

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