Ontario Home Starts Moderate in August

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Sept. 9, 2011) - The Ontario preliminary Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR) of home starts across urban* centres moved lower in August. An estimated 64,000** residential housing units got started in the latest month, down from a revised 72,600 units in July. While construction of single detached homes edged lower, multi-family home construction, which includes semi detached homes, townhomes and apartments declined most. More major urban areas posted declines versus increases from the same month one year ago. For the year ending August, new home construction in Ontario urban areas is running 12 per cent above levels this time last year.

"The demand shift from expensive to inexpensive housing has accelerated over the past year with apartments capturing a growing share of demand," said Ted Tsiakopoulos, CMHC's Regional Economist. "Higher home ownership costs, lower rental vacancy rates and increasing investor interest have supported higher density construction. However, residential construction has been running above demographic requirements since March of 2011. This reality along with slower job growth and more balanced resale markets should temper the pace of construction activity in the months ahead," added Tsiakopoulos.

To view the Ontario Urban SAAR Starts graph, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/onsaar98.pdf

To view the Ontario Urban SAAR Starts chart, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/onsaar98c.pdf

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.

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