TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Nov. 8, 2012) - Housing starts in the Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) were trending at 2,210 units 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 standalone monthly SAAR was 1,380 units in October, down from 4,480 in September.
"While single-detached starts have significantly declined from last year, townhouse and apartment construction continues to be the story this year. Affordability is driving consumer choices. Slightly more than half of housing starts this year have been apartments. Both condominium and rental apartments have gained in popularity. An increase in households who tend to live in apartments has boosted demand. Young adult households, one-person households, immigrants, students and downsizing baby boomers have supported apartment demand this year, said Erica McLerie, CMHC's Senior Market Analyst for Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo.
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.
New home construction declined in October compared to September. Construction began on 117 homes in October, down from 305 units started in October 2011. Builders started 47 single-detached homes, down from the 98 homes started a year ago. Townhouse starts declined to 17 units, while apartment starts decreased to 51 units, from 171 units started in October 2011. Due to the strength of townhouse and apartment construction, housing starts in the first ten months of 2012 were only marginally lower than starts in the same period of 2011.
Preliminary Housing Starts data is also available in English and French at the following link: Preliminary Housing Starts Tables
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. |
Additional data is available upon request.
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To view the figures associated with this press release, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/chktablse105.pdf
Contact Information:
Erica McLerie
416-218-3318
emclerie@cmhc.ca
Media Contact:
Beth Bailey
416-218-3355
bbailey@cmhc.ca