September 2012 Housing Starts in Brantford

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Oct. 9, 2012) - Housing starts in Brantford, Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) were trending at 407 units in September, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). The trend is a six month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR) ¹ of housing starts. The standalone monthly SAAR was 355 units in September, down from 380 units in August.

"The apartment segment was completely responsible for the decrease in total housing starts this September. Residential construction activity was particularly strong in the first half of 2012, therefore this month's decline can be seen as a return to historical levels," said Abdul Kargbo, CMHC's Senior Market Analyst for the Hamilton and Brantford CMAs.

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 multiples segment includes apartments, rows and semi-detached homes.

Single-detached housing starts, which are less volatile and therefore a better indicator of the trend in construction activity, were higher than they were in September 2011. Year-to-date, total housing starts have reached 295 actual units, up from 280 units reported in the first nine months of 2011. Gains were spread across all dwelling types with the exception of apartment structures. On a sub-market basis, between January and September 2012, total starts in Brant City advanced by double digits. Meanwhile, the weaker apartment performance this month pulled down total housing starts in Brantford City.

Preliminary Housing Starts data is also available in English and French at the following link:
Preliminary Housing Starts Tables

As Canada's national housing agency, CMHC draws on more than 65 years of experience to help Canadians access a variety of 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.

^[1] All starts figures in this release, other than actual starts and the trend estimate, 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 allows for a comparison from one season to the next and from one month to the next. 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.

Additional data is available upon request.

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To view the tables associated with this press release please click on the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1005cme_brant.pdf.