October 2015 housing starts in Ottawa

OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Nov. 9, 2015) - Housing starts in the Ottawa Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) were trending at 5,398 units in October compared to 5,547 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.

"Housing starts trended lower across all housing types in October compared to the previous month, especially among row and apartment homes. The inventory of completed and unsold row and apartment units has been increasing over the past year, and reached 729 units in September. Builders may be looking to unwind these inventories before starting new projects. Despite some strengthening in full-time employment, overall employment and earnings levels so far this year are weaker than a year earlier, which is affecting multiple starts activity more heavily," said Anne-Marie Shaker, CMHC's Market Analyst for Ottawa.

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.

In Ottawa, the monthly SAAR measure was 4,836 in October down from 5,334 in September, as an increase in rows was more than offset by decreases in all other dwelling types.

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.

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(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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Tables and a graph are available at the following address: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1031854a.pdf