October Housing Starts for the St. John's Area

ST. JOHN'S, NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR--(Marketwire - Nov. 8, 2011) - Housing starts in the St. John's region decreased during the month of October, according to preliminary data¹ released today by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). October's housing starts totaled 142 units throughout the St. John's area compared to 161 units in October 2010. There were 25 additional starts recorded in urban centres outside the St. John's region, for a total of 167 provincial urban housing starts.

"Both single-detached and multiple construction activity were lower throughout the St. John's area in October," said Chris Janes, senior market analyst with CMHC in Newfoundland and Labrador. "Single-detached starts led the decline, falling 13 per cent in October to 111 units. The year-to-date downward trend in single-detached construction remains, with this segment of the housing market 14 per cent lower than last year," added Janes.

In urban centres across Canada, total housing starts recorded in October were up 21 per cent to 16,388 units compared to 13,548 a year ago. Single-detached starts decreased four per cent to 5,472 units, while multiple starts increased 40 per cent to 10,916 units in October. In the Atlantic region, 638 new homes were started compared to 956 units during October 2010.

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.

For more information, visit www.cmhc.ca or call 1-800-668-2642.

CMHC Market Analysis standard reports are also available free for download at http://www.cmhc.ca/housingmarketinformation.

1. Figures for the most recent month are preliminary and subject to revisions due to corrections or updates from quarterly enumeration or sampling results.

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PRELIMINARY URBAN MONTHLY HOUSING STARTS NEWFOUNDLAND & LABRADOR SUMMARY

	2011	2010		YEAR-TO-DATE
			% Change			% Change
	OCT	OCT		2011	2010
ALL URBAN CENTRES WITH POPULATIONS > 50,000
ST. JOHN 'S CMA
Single	111	128	-13.3%	1,070	1,241	-13.8%
Multiple	31	33	-6.1%	517	248	# #
TOTAL	142	161	-11.8%	1,587	1,489	6.6%
ALL URBAN CENTRES WITH POPULATION >10,000
ALL CENTRES*
Single	124	152	-18.4%	1,299	1,484	-12.5%
Multiple	43	53	-18.9%	627	338	85.5%
TOTAL	167	205	-18.5%	1,926	1,822	5.7%

Figures for the most recent month are preliminary and subject to revisions due to corrections or updates from quarterly enumeration or sampling results.

* Includes all centres with a total population of more than 10,000 (St. John's CMA, Corner Brook CA, Gander MD, Grand Falls/Windsor CA, and Bay Roberts CA)

## Indicates changes in excess of 100% which are not reported due to volatility resulting from small absolute numbers.