September 2011 Housing Starts

OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Oct. 11, 2011) - The seasonally adjusted annual rate⁽¹⁾ of housing starts was 205,900 units in September, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). This is up from 191,900 units in August 2011.

"Housing starts picked up in September due to an increase in multiple starts in the Atlantic region, Quebec and in British Columbia," said Mathieu Laberge, Deputy Chief Economist at CMHC's Market Analysis Centre. "Multiple housing starts are expected to move back towards levels consistent with demographic fundamentals in the near term."

The seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts increased by 8.0 per cent to 185,900 units in September. Multiple urban starts were up by 14.2 per cent to 118,000 units, while urban single starts decreased by 1.5 per cent in September to 67,900 units.

September's seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts increased by 47.0 per cent in the Atlantic region, 32.0 per cent in Quebec and by 18.6 per cent in British Columbia, while urban starts decreased by 3.5 per cent in Ontario and by 12.1 per cent in the Prairie region.

Rural starts⁽²⁾ were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 20,000 units in September.

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 http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca or call 1-800-668-2642.

⁽¹⁾ All starts figures in this release, other than actual starts, are seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR) — that is, monthly figures adjusted to remove normal seasonal variation and multiplied by 12 to reflect annual levels. By removing seasonal ups and downs, seasonal adjustment makes it possible to highlight the fundamental trends of a series. Reporting monthly figures at annual rates indicates the annual level of starts that would be obtained if the monthly pace was maintained for 12 months. This facilitates comparison of the current pace of activity to annual forecasts as well as to historical annual levels.

⁽²⁾ CMHC estimates the level of starts in centres with a population of less than 10,000 for each of the three months of the quarter, at the beginning of each quarter. During the last month of the quarter, CMHC conducts the survey in these centres and revises the estimate.

A graph and a table are available at the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/chmc1011.pdf

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For regional starts information contact:

Atlantic provinces: Alex MacDonald, CMHC,

(902) 426-8964, amacdona@cmhc-schl.gc.ca

Quebec: Kevin Hughes, CMHC,

(514) 283-4488, khughesl@cmhc-schl.gc.ca

Ontario: Ted Tsiakopoulos, CMHC,

(416) 218-3407, ttsiakop@cmhc-schl.gc.ca

Prairie provinces: Lai Sing Louie, CMHC,

(403) 515-2991, llouie@cmhc-schl.gc.ca

British Columbia: Carol Frketich, CMHC,

(604) 737-4067, cfrketic@cmhc-schl.gc.ca