Residential Activity Picks Up in the Fall

HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA--(Marketwired - Oct. 11, 2016) - Housing starts in Halifax Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) were trending at 2,530 units in September compared to 1,917 in August 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.

"Construction activity trended upward in September due to a strong month for both multiples and singles," said Guillaume Neault, CMHC Principal Market Analyst for Atlantic Canada. "A few additional apartment projects anticipated to break ground before the end of year will maintain the trend for multiples starts," Neault added.

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 standalone monthly SAAR was 4,394 units in September, up from 1,506 in August.

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/1072070e.pdf