September 2014 Housing Starts in Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Oct. 8, 2014) - Housing starts in the Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) were trending at 4,925 units in September compared to 3,383 units 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)¹ of housing starts.

"Starts trended higher in September due to the surge in apartment starts. Apartment starts were trending at 3,400 in September as footings were completed for several apartment projects in Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo. Single-detached starts were also trending higher in September. For the first nine months of 2014, starts were more than double the level recorded during the same period last year. The strength for apartments reflects rising student enrolment and the strong commitment for higher density housing from local governments," said Erica McLerie, CMHC's Senior Market Analyst for the Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo CMA.

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.

The SAAR of total housing starts was 10,826 units in September, up from 1,568 in August. This large increase in the SAAR is due to the surge in apartment starts in September.

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.

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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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Tables and a graph are available at the following address:

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