October 2016 Housing Starts in St. Catharines-Niagara

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Nov. 8, 2016) - Housing starts in the St. Catharines-Niagara Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) were trending slightly lower at 2,155 units in October compared to 2,201 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.

"The trend in total housing starts declined in October as a result of a decrease in the trend of row and apartment starts," said James Cuddy, CMHC's Market Analyst. "The trend for single-detached housing starts increased slightly from last month, and semi-detached starts have been trending upwards since June. Demand for homeownership is being generated by an influx of individuals from the Greater Toronto Area and Hamilton CMA who are being attracted to the relatively more affordable homes in St. Catharines-Niagara CMA. However, rapidly rising prices for single-detached homes in the area are prompting individuals to seek more affordable options, which in part explains the rise in the number of semi-detached homes being built."

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 1,796 in October up from 1,604 in September. The SAAR increase was mostly due to some recovery in starts of single-detached units after a sharp decline last month.

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/1075567e.pdf