October 2014 Housing Starts in Halifax

HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA--(Marketwired - Nov. 10, 2014) - Housing starts in Halifax, Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) were trending at 2,303 units in October compared to 2,255 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.

"Residential construction activity in Halifax remained subdued in October," said Tim Andrews, Market Analyst with CMHC's Atlantic Business Centre. "Housing starts in both the single-detached and multi-family segments recorded declines last month," added Andrews. "The slowing pace of construction is attributed to relatively weak fundamentals, including little growth in both employment and population," said Andrews.

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 726 units in October, down from 2,994 in September.

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.

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¹All 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 tables associated with this release, please visit the following link: http://file.marketwire.com/release/978053e.pdf