VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - April 8, 2016) - Housing starts in the Vancouver Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) were trending at 25,969 units in March compared to 24,248 units in February, 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.
"An increase in single-detached, townhome and apartment starts saw the pace of new home construction surpass last month's trend," said Richard Sam, Market Analyst. "Record monthly resales coupled with low inventories of new move-in ready homes have motivated builders to bring on more supply to the marketplace," added Sam.
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 standalone monthly SAAR was 28,412 units in March, down from 37,315 units in February due to the record level of housing starts recorded last month. Housing starts in February were the highest monthly total in the past 25 years in the Vancouver CMA.
Housing starts in the Abbotsford-Mission CMA were trending at 1,265 units in March, down from 1,408 units in February due to a decrease in apartment 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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To view the graph and tables accompanying this press release please click on the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/VAHS48.pdf
Contact Information:
Elisabeth Lefrancois
604 737-4072
elefranc@cmhc.ca