October 2016 Housing Starts in Quebec

MONTREAL, QUEBEC--(Marketwired - Nov. 8, 2016) - Housing starts in Quebec were trending at 32,975 units in October, compared to 32,517 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) of housing starts.

"As expected, the rate of housing starts returned to its annual average, following a sharp increase in the apartment market segment in September (when several projects arrived simultaneously at the start phase). As the year-to-date total for the first ten months matches our forecast, we expect a year of stability in housing starts in the province of Quebec in 2016," said Kevin Hughes, Regional Economist at CMHC.

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, analyzing 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 stand-alone monthly SAAR was 30,797 units in October, significantly down from 40,786 in September.

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.

For more information, visit our website at www.cmhc.ca or follow us on Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and Facebook.

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://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1075509e_TABLES.pdf