Source: Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation - Ottawa HQ

May 2013 Housing Starts in Ottawa

OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - June 10, 2013) - Housing starts in Ottawa Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) were trending at 5,134 units in May compared to 4,808 units in April 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.

"Seasonally adjusted housing starts saw a slight moderation in May from April levels, as apartment construction scaled back. However, some of the decline was offset by a pickup in single-detached and row starts. Construction of single-detached homes recorded the highest activity since April 2012, and rows expanded to the highest level in five months," said Sandra Perez Torres, Senior Market Analyst for Eastern and Northern Ontario.

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.

In Ottawa, the standalone monthly SAAR was 5,943 units in May down from 6,239 units in April.

In May, approximately half of all construction activity took place in Kanata. While apartment construction remained concentrated in the Ottawa City core, Kanata came in first place in row, single, and semi-detached construction. Similarly, year-to-date single starts have been concentrated in Kanata, which secured one-third of the market. Goulbourn captured another 21 percent and Nepean Outside the Greenbelt retreated to third place with just an 11 per cent share. "Both Kanata and Goulbourn are posting a revitalizing trend with the strongest year-to-date activity in single-family construction since 2008," concluded Perez Torres.

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.

Follow CMHC on Twitter @CMHC_ca.

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.

(Ce document existe également en français)

To view the graph and table associated with this release, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/879408FIGURES.pdf.

Contact Information:

Sandra Perez-Torres
Senior Market Analyst
613-748-5120
sperezto@cmhc.ca

National Media Contact:
Beth Bailey
Consultant, Communications and Marketing
(416) 218-3355
bbailey@cmhc.ca