October 2013 Housing Starts in Ontario

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Nov. 8, 2013) - Housing starts in the Ontario region were trending at 63,785 units in October, compared to 60,207 in September, 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.

"Higher construction activity in recent months is proliferating beyond the GTA and beyond apartment construction with the trend in row and semi detached construction edging higher in a number of other metropolitan markets. The trend in Ontario starts is now pointing up suggesting that more strength can be expected in the months to follow. Higher demand for resale homes, a backlog of apartment units awaiting construction combined with a gradual improvement in the job market point to strong starts activity for the remainder of 2013," said Ted Tsiakopoulos, CMHC's Ontario Regional Economist.

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 standalone monthly SAAR was 68,227 units in October, up from 57,811 units in September and near its highest level on the year. Multi family home construction which includes semi detached, row and apartment dwellings contributed most to growth while single detached starts remained stable in October. For the year ending October, Ontario urban starts are down 23 per cent from this time last year.

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.

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 graph and tables are available at the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/910150A.pdf.