November 2014 Housing Starts in Kingston

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Dec. 8, 2014) - Housing starts in the Kingston Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) were trending at 781 units in November compared to 789 in October, 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.

"Housing starts in Kingston are trending at the same level with the previous month. Ground oriented housing is the preferred choice for this year in Kingston as they made up the majority of new units supplied to the market. Year-to-date earnings gains in educational and financial services sectors coupled with health care earnings' gains are in support of the housing market, particularly in the areas with close proximity to work, as professionals in these occupations tend to be location sensitive," said Aris Gianneskis, CMHC Market Analyst.

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 multiples segment includes apartments, rows and semi-detached homes.

The standalone monthly SAAR was 539 units in November up from 409 in October.

Construction resumed this month in submarkets of South Frontenac and Loyalist after a short pause in the month of October. These starts were mostly single-detached along with some townhomes being supplied in the Loyalist area which has experienced a significant population increase in recent years.

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 advice to Canadian governments, consumers and the housing industry.

Follow CMHC on Twitter @CMHC_ca.

^[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 table and a graph are available at the following address: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/982926e.pdf