September 2012 Housing Starts in Hamilton

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Oct. 9, 2012) - Housing starts in Hamilton, Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) were trending at 3,136 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 2,744 units in September, up from 2,298 units in August.

"After nine months, both singles and multiple starts have risen from the previous year. Low mortgage rates, positive migration flows and fewer listings on the existing home market have supported residential construction activity in 2012," said Abdul Kargbo, CMHC's Senior Market Analyst for 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 starts moderated in September 2012. However, multiple starts totalled 159 actual units in September, three times the number of units reported in September of last year. Year-to-date, total housing starts have reached 2,422 actual units with activity almost evenly split between both singles and multiple starts. On a sub-market basis, between January and September 2012, total starts in Burlington and the City of Hamilton were higher than they were during the first nine months of 2011. Meanwhile, residential construction activity in Grimsby remained below last year's level.

Preliminary Housing Starts data is also available in English and French at the following link: http://www.cmhc.gc.ca/en/hoficlincl/homain/stda/index.cfm

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 accompanying graph, visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/Hamilton_CMASept.jpg

Preliminary Housing Start Data
September / 2011-2012
Hamilton, CMA1		September 2011	September 2012
	Actual
	September - Single-Detached	136	82
	September - Multiples	52	159
	September - Total	188	241
	January to September - Single-Detached	1,033	1,073
	January to September - Multiples	628	1,349
	January to September - Total	1,661	2,422
		August 2012	September 2012
SAAR2
	Total	2,298	2,744
Source: CMHC
1 Census Metropolitan Area
2 Seasonally Adjusted at Annual Rates
Detailed data available upon request.

Hamilton Preliminary Actual Housing Start Data by Type
September / 2011-2012
Hamilton, CMA1		Single		Semi		Row		Apt		Total
		2011	2012	2011	2012	2011	2012	2011	2012	2011	2012
Sub-markets within the CMA
Burlington		25	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	25	2
City of Hamilton		106	73	0	20	8	100	0	39	114	232
Grimsby		5	7	0	0	44	0	0	0	49	7
Sub-markets outside the CMA
Halton Hills		8	70	0	0	0	0	0	0	8	70
Milton		35	113	18	20	0	227	0	75	53	435
Oakville		14	7	0	8	0	119	0	0	14	134
	Total Hamilton CMA Starts	136	82	0	20	52	100	0	39	188	241
Hamilton Preliminary Actual Housing Start Data by Type
January to September / 2011-2012
Hamilton, CMA1		Single		Semi		Row		Apt		Total
		2011	2012	2011	2012	2011	2012	2011	2012	2011	2012
Sub-markets within the CMA
Burlington		265	75	4	0	31	90	75	338	375	503
City of Hamilton		691	967	2	88	326	655	95	108	1114	1818
Grimsby		77	31	0	0	95	70	0	0	172	101
Sub-markets outside the CMA
Halton Hills		66	126	2	0	9	25	0	0	77	151
Milton		619	515	34	116	251	839	216	152	1120	1622
Oakville		399	175	32	8	272	346	0	268	703	797
	Total Hamilton CMA Starts	1033	1073	6	88	452	815	170	446	1661	2422

1 Census Metropolitan Area