Ontario Home Starts Remain at High Levels in July

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Aug. 9, 2011) - The Ontario preliminary Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR) of home starts across urban* centres remained at a high level in July. An estimated 72,900** residential housing units got started in the latest month, up slightly from a revised 71,700 units in June. Multi-family home construction, which includes semi detached homes, townhomes and apartments grew to its second highest level this year. Single detached construction moderated in July. When compared to activity in July 2010, more Ontario major markets posted declines than increases during the latest month. For the year ending July, new home construction in Ontario urban areas is running 14 per cent above levels this time last year.

"The demand shift from expensive to inexpensive housing has accelerated over the past year with apartments capturing a growing share of demand," said Ted Tsiakopoulos, CMHC's Regional Economist. "Higher home ownership costs, lower rental vacancy rates and increasing investor interest have supported higher density construction. Apartment construction will remain brisk but slower job growth, more balanced resale markets and tighter mortgage markets should temper the pace of construction activity in the months ahead," added Tsiakopoulos.

As Canada's national housing agency, CMHC draws on 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.

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To view the "Ontario Urban SAAR Starts, 000s" graph associated with this press release, please visit the following link:

http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/ontario.pdf.

To view the table associated with this press release, please visit the following link:

http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/urban.pdf.