TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - March 8, 2012) - The Ontario preliminary Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR) of home starts across urban* centres moved lower in February. An estimated 64,100** residential housing units got started in the latest month, down from 77,100 units in January. Multi-family home construction, which includes semi detached homes, town homes and apartments was solely responsible for the decrease. Meanwhile, single detached construction remained steady. While the GTA was the source of weakness in February, most urban areas outside of the GTA posted growth in construction activity. Ontario construction activity is running above expectations so far for the first quarter.
"While residential construction activity slowed in February, further moderation is expected in the months ahead," said Ted Tsiakopoulos, CMHC's Ontario Regional Economist. "Slower job growth, high home prices and more choice in resale markets should temper the pace of construction activity through 2012. Nevertheless, Ontario starts will remain stable and close to 2011 levels," added Tsiakopoulos.
As Canada's national housing agency, CMHC draws on over 65 years of experience to help Canadians access a variety of high quality, environmentally sustainable and affordable homes. 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 CMHC Housing Market Information.
To view the tables associated with this press release, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/ontario_data_march.pdf
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Contact Information:
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ttsiakop@cmhc.ca