TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Nov. 9, 2015) - Housing starts in the Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) were trending higher at 3,487 units in October compared to 3,385 units 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.
"Total housing starts trended slightly higher due to higher single-detached and townhouse starts. The trend was higher for single-detached, semi-detached and townhouse starts, while apartment starts trended slightly lower. A tight resale market has meant more spill-over of demand to the new home ownership market, boosting demand particularly for new single-detached homes and townhouses," said Erica McLerie, Senior Market Analyst at CMHC. "With more than 4,000 apartments under construction, builders are limiting the number of additional apartment projects they start."
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.
The SAAR of total housing starts was 2,419 units in October, down from 5,345 units in September. The decrease in the SAAR was due to fewer apartment starts. Apartments can vary significantly from month to month. For the first ten months of 2015, actual starts have declined by 20 per cent from the same time last year, due to fewer apartment starts. Starts for all other housing types are higher.
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.
(Ce document existe également en français)
Tables and a graph are available at the following address: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1031836_ENG.pdf
Contact Information:
Angelina Ritacco
416-218-3320
aritacco@cmhc.ca