October Housing Starts in New Brunswick

MONCTON, NEW BRUNSWICK--(Marketwire - Nov. 8, 2011) - Residential construction in New Brunswick's urban centres was lower in October according to figures released today by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). Preliminary data¹ indicate that a total of 213 starts were recorded during the month compared to 349 starts for the same period in 2010.

"Following a strong performance last month, multiple starts in New Brunswick's urban centres were significantly lower in October, contributing, in large part, to the overall decline recorded for the month," said Claude Gautreau, CMHC's senior market analyst for New Brunswick. In October, 109 multiple starts were recorded compared to 217 units for the same month last year. Year-to date, multiple starts are down 20 per cent from last year's total to 1,160 units.

Single starts in October were also down from last year's total, with a 21 per cent decrease to 104 units. Year-to-date, single starts have declined 20 per cent to 904 units. "After ten months of the year, both the singles and multi-unit segments of the new homes market are 20 per cent below last year's activity levels," added Gautreau.

In urban centres across Canada, total housing starts recorded in October were up 21 per cent to 16,388 units compared to last year's total of 13,548. Single-detached starts were down four per cent to 5,472 units, while multiple starts were up 40 per cent to 10,916 units this year. In the Atlantic region, 638 new units were started in October 2011 compared to 956 units during the same period in 2010.

As Canada's national housing agency, CMHC draws on more than 65 years of experience to help Canadians access a variety of high 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
NEW BRUNSWICK SUMMARY
	2011	2010		YEAR-TO-DATE
			% Change			% Change
	OCT	OCT		2011	2010
ALL URBAN CENTRES WITH POPULATIONS > 50,000
SAINT JOHN CMA
Single	14	34	-58.8%	179	297	-39.7%
Multiple	13	2	##	129	302	-57.3%
TOTAL	27	36	-25.0%	308	599	-48.6%
MONCTON CMA
Single	35	45	-22.2%	323	389	-17.0%
Multiple	44	204	-78.4%	634	792	-19.9%
TOTAL	79	249	-68.3%	957	1,181	-19.0%
FREDERICTON CA
Single	35	39	-10.3%	285	315	-9.5%
Multiple	52	10	##	352	307	14.7%
TOTAL	87	49	77.6%	637	622	2.4%
ALL URBAN CENTRES WITH POPULATION >10,000*
ALL CENTRES
Single	104	132	-21.2%	904	1134	-20.3%
Multiple	109	217	-49.8%	1,160	1451	-20.1%
TOTAL	213	349	-39.0%	2,064	2,585	-20.2%

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 (Saint John CMA, Moncton CMA, Fredericton CA, Bathurst CA, Campbellton CA, Edmundston CA, and Miramichi CA).

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