August 2012 Housing Starts in the Vancouver Census Metropolitan Area (CMA)

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Sept. 11, 2012) - Housing starts in the Vancouver CMA were trending at 19,100 units through August, 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 total starts. The stand alone monthly seasonally adjusted rate was 20,600 units in August, up from 16,800 in July.

"Strength in multiple-family housing starts bolstered residential construction levels in the Vancouver CMA in August compared to a more modest level of home building in July, rather than an increasing trend," noted Carol Frketich, CMHC's BC Regional Economist. "August housing starts were concentrated in the cities of Coquitlam, Vancouver and Surrey."

The Abbotsford-Mission CMA had 277 starts during the first eight months compared to 333 in the same period the previous year.

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 www.cmhc.ca/housingmarketinformation.

Preliminary housing starts numbers are summarized in the attached table.

(Ce document existe également en français)

To view the tables accompanying this press release, please click on the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/cmhc911vai.pdf.

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.