November Housing Starts for the St. John's Area

ST. JOHN'S, NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR--(Marketwire - Dec. 8, 2011) - Housing starts in the St. John's region increased during the month of November, according to preliminary data¹ released today by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). November's housing starts totalled 207 units throughout the St. John's area compared to 155 units in November 2010. There were 14 additional starts recorded in urban centres outside the St. John's region, for a total of 221 provincial urban housing starts.

"Single-detached and multiple construction activity were both higher throughout the St. John's area in November. Multiple starts led the increase, more than doubling in November to 77 units, while single- detached starts increased ten per cent to 130 units. Year-to-date, housing starts are nine per cent higher in the St. John's area than last year," said Chris Janes, senior market analyst with CMHC in Newfoundland and Labrador.

In urban centres across Canada, total housing starts recorded in November were down five per cent to 14,701 units compared to 15,540 a year ago. Single-detached starts were virtually unchanged at 5,920 units, while multiple starts decreased eight per cent to 8,781 units in November. In the Atlantic region, 674 new units were started compared to 731 during November 2010.

As Canada's national housing agency, CMHC draws on more than 65 years of experience to help Canadians access a variety of high 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.

For more information, visit www.cmhc.ca or call 1-800-668-2642. CMHC Market Analysis standard reports are also available free for download at CMHC Housing Market Information.

¹ Figures for the most recent month are preliminary and subject to revisions due to corrections or updates from quarterly enumeration or sampling results.

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PRELIMINARY URBAN MONTHLY HOUSING STARTS NEWFOUNDLAND & LABRADOR SUMMARY

	2011	2010		YEAR-TO -DATE
			% Change			% Change
	NOV	NOV		2011	2010
	ALL URBAN CENTRES WITH POPULATIONS > 50,000
ST. JOHN'S CMA
Single	130	118	10.2%	1,200	1,359	-11.7%
Multiple	77	37	# #	592	285	##
TOTAL	207	155	33.5%	1,792	1,644	9.0%
	ALL URBAN CENTRES WITH POPULATION >10,000
ALL CENTRES*
Single	140	140	0.0%	1,439	1,624	-11.4%
Multiple	81	53	52.8%	706	391	80.6%
TOTAL	221	193	14.5%	2,145	2,015	6.5%

Figures for the most recent month are preliminary and subject to revisions due to corrections or updates from quarterly enumeration or sampling results.

* Includes all centres with a total population of more than 10,000 (St . John's CMA, Corner Brook CA, Gander MD, Grand Falls/Windsor CA, and Bay Roberts CA)

## Indicates changes in excess of 100% which are not reported due to volatility resulting from small absolute numbers.