November 2012 Housing Starts in Hamilton CMA

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Dec. 10, 2012) - Housing starts in Hamilton, Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) were trending at 2,367 units in November, 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 2,765 units in November, up from 1,736 units in October.

"Before seasonal adjustment, total housing starts were down in November 2012 from the same month a year ago. This month's decrease in housing starts occurred across all dwelling types, with the exception of townhouses. However, between January and November 2012, the number of housing starts remained well above the levels reached during the first eleven months of 2011," 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.

Row starts increased in November 2012 while single-detached, semi-detached and apartment starts were lower than the number of units reported in November of last year. Year-to-date, total housing starts have reached 2,793 actual units, up from 2,183 units tallied in the first eleven months of 2011. On a sub-market basis, between January and November 2012, total housing starts in Burlington and the City of Hamilton were higher than they were during the same eleven-month period in 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: Preliminary Housing Starts Tables

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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A graphic is available at the following address: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/CMHCa_HM_1210.pdf

Preliminary Housing Start Data
November 2012
Hamilton, CMA1	November 2011	November 2012
Actual
November - Single-Detached	107	94
November - Multiples	150	134
November - Total	257	228
January to November - Single-Detached	1253	1288
January to November - Multiples	930	1505
January to November - Total	2183	2793
	October 2012	November 2012
SAAR2
Total	1736	2765

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
November 2012
Hamilton, CMA1		Single		Semi		Row		Apt		Total
		2011	2012	2011	2012	2011	2012	2011	2012	2011	2012
Sub-markets within the CMA
Burlington		20	30	0	0	4	55	0	0	24	85
City of Hamilton		78	61	14	2	21	77	111	0	224	140
Grimsby		9	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	9	3
Sub-markets outside the CMA
Halton Hills		1	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	3
Milton		165	41	24	52	148	24	0	0	337	117
Oakville		11	24	0	0	0	0	0	0	11	24
	Total Hamilton CMA Starts	107	94	14	2	25	132	111	0	257	228
Hamilton Preliminary Actual Housing Start Data by Type
January to November 2012
Hamilton, CMA1		Single		Semi		Row		Apt		Total
		2011	2012	2011	2012	2011	2012	2011	2012	2011	2012
Sub-markets within the CMA
Burlington		325	130	4	2	47	145	150	338	526	615
City of Hamilton		839	1124	18	92	410	750	206	108	1473	2074
Grimsby		89	34	0	0	95	70	0	0	184	104
Sub-markets outside the CMA
Halton Hills		71	143	6	0	22	25	0	0	99	168
Milton		888	630	68	168	399	1045	312	152	1667	1995
Oakville		428	244	32	20	313	346	0	522	773	1132
	Total Hamilton CMA Starts	1253	1288	22	94	552	965	356	446	2183	2793

1 Census Metropolitan Area