September 2016 Housing Starts in Barrie

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Oct. 11, 2016) - Housing starts in the Barrie Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) were trending at 2,090 units in September, up from 1,653 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.

"The trend in Barrie CMA total housing starts jumped in September to a level not seen for years, driven by the continued increase of multi-unit housing starts. Builders poured foundations for apartment projects for the first time in all the three zones of the Barrie CMA, confirming that the CMA is moving to more higher-density housing. Limited land availability, homeownership affordability and a tightening rental market are factors behind this shift," said Abdellah Massaoudi, CMHC's Market Analyst for Barrie.

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, analyzing 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 standalone monthly SAAR was 3,409 units in September, up from 2,451 in August. This increase in the SAAR measure was due to an increase in multi-unit housing starts.

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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Tables and a graph are available at the following address: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1071974a.pdf