November 2015 Housing Starts in London

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Dec. 8, 2015) - Housing starts in the London Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) were trending down at 2,000 units in November compared to 2,578 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.

"The housing starts trend retreated in November to a level that was a more reflective of housing demand in London. The trend had been elevated for the past several months, pulled up by a high number of row and apartment starts. As is typically the case with row and apartment starts in London, due to their volatile nature, large swings in starts will sometimes occur," said Anthony Passarelli, Senior Market Analyst with CMHC.

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 monthly SAAR of total starts was 1,528 units in November, down from 2,316 in October, primarily due to 1,068 annualized row home starts in October compared to 360 in November. Row home starts tend to fluctuate greatly from month to month in London. Starts of single-detached homes were also down in November.

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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Tables and a graph are available at the following address: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1035920a.pdf