Toronto Housing Starts Rise in July

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Aug. 9, 2012) - Housing starts for the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area were trending at 48,900 units in July according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). The trend is a moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR)¹ of total starts data. The standalone monthly SAAR was 51,700 units, up from 42,000 units in June.

"Strength in housing construction last month was shown across all housing types, with low density starts moving up to their highest point of the year. Activity has been shifting towards relatively more affordable pockets of the GTA. In particular, Brampton starts are running at a five-year high," said Shaun Hildebrand, CMHC's Senior Market Analyst for the GTA.

For some markets, CMHC uses the trend measure as a complement to the monthly SAAR of housing starts to account for considerable swings in monthly estimates and to 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 volatile from one month to the next.

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 www.cmhc.ca or call 1-800-668-2642. CMHC Market Analysis standard reports are also available free for download at CMHC Housing Market Information.

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¹ Seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR) are monthly figures adjusted to remove normal seasonal variation and multiplied by 12 to reflect annual levels.

To view Figure 1, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/CMHC88Figure1.pdf