November 2015 Housing Starts in Kingston

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Dec. 8, 2015) - Housing starts in the Kingston Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) were trending at 719 units in November compared to 968 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 were trending lower for the month of November driven primarily by a decline in apartment starts. In spite of a slow start to the year, more apartments were built in the first three quarters of the year compared to the average in recent years for the same period. The decline in apartment starts for the month of November brings the trend back in line with the five-year average", said Aris Gianneskis, CMHC's Market Analyst for Kingston.

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 227 units in November down from 638 in October as fewer apartment and row units were supplied.

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 information 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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To view the graph and table associated with this release, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1035937E.pdf