CMHC: February 2011 Housing Starts

OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - March 8, 2011) - The seasonally adjusted annual rate(1) of housing starts was 181,900 units in February, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). This is up from 170,600 units in January 2011.

"Housing starts moved higher in February because of increases in Ontario and the Prairies," said Bob Dugan, Chief Economist at CMHC's Market Analysis Centre. "The bulk of this increase was felt in the multiples segment. From last month, multi-family starts were up in Saskatchewan and in Toronto."

The seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts increased by 9.4 per cent to 161,000 units in February. Urban multiple starts were up by 14.5 per cent in February to 94,900 units, while single urban starts edged higher by 3.0 per cent to 66,100 units.

February's seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts decreased by 24.7 per cent in Atlantic Canada, by 7.1 per cent in Québec, and by 5.9 per cent in British Columbia. Urban starts increased by 29.3 per cent in Ontario and by 26.1 per cent in the Prairies.

Rural starts(2) were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 20,900 units in February.

As Canada's national housing agency, CMHC draws on 65 years of experience to help Canadians access a variety of high quality, environmentally sustainable and affordable homes. 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 http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca or call 1-800-668-2642.

This release is also available on the CMHC Web site: http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca

For regional starts information contact:

Atlantic provinces: Alex MacDonald, CMHC,

(902) 426-8964, amacdona@cmhc-schl.gc.ca

Quebec: Kevin Hughes, CMHC,

(514) 283-4488, khughes@cmhc-schl.gc.ca

Ontario: Ted Tsiakopoulos, CMHC,

(416) 218-3407, ttsiakop@cmhc-schl.gc.ca

Prairie provinces: Lai Sing Louie, CMHC,

(403) 515-2991, llouie@cmhc-schl.gc.ca

British Columbia: Carol Frketich, CMHC,

(604) 737-4067, cfrketic@cmhc-schl.gc.ca

A graph is available at the following address: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/Feb_Housing_ENG_0308.pdf

Housing Starts, Actual and SAAR*

			Actual		SAAR
			February 2010	February 2011	January 2011	February 2011
			Revised	Preliminary	Revised	Preliminary
Canada, all areas			11,259	10,659	170,600	181,900
	Canada, rural areas		622	759	23,500	20,900
	Canada, urban centres**		10,637	9,900	147,100	161,000
		Canada, singles, urban centres	4,526	3,300	64,200	66,100
		Canada, multiples, urban centres	6,111	6,600	82,900	94,900
		Atlantic region, urban centres	453	269	8,500	6,400
		Quebec, urban centres	1,967	1,746	40,800	37,900
		Ontario, urban centres	4,104	3,982	48,400	62,600
		Prairie region, urban centres	2,188	2,051	23,800	30,000
		British Columbia, urban centres	1,925	1,852	25,600	24,100

Source: CMHC

*Seasonally adjusted annual rates

** Urban centres with a population of 10,000 and over.

Detailed data available upon request.

(1) All starts figures in this release, other than actual starts, 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 makes it possible to highlight the fundamental trends of a series. 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.

(2) CMHC estimates the level of starts in centres with a population of less than 10,000 for each of the three months of the quarter, at the beginning of each quarter. During the last month of the quarter, CMHC conducts the survey in these centres and revises the estimate.