June 2013 Housing Starts in Ontario

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - July 9, 2013) - Housing starts in the Ontario region were trending at 55,649 units in June, compared to 58,087 in May, 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.

"Less in migration, owing to modest Ontario job growth over the past year and better supply conditions for higher density housing caused the residential construction trend to ease in June. Improving economic and resale market conditions in the second quarter should help stabilize residential construction activity in the months ahead," said Ted Tsiakopoulos, CMHC's Ontario Regional Economist.

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 standalone monthly SAAR was 60,386 units in June, down from 68,430 units in May. Row and apartment construction dampened activity in June while both single and semi detached construction combined remained relatively stable. Almost as many major markets posted increases as centers posting decreases in activity on a month over month basis in June

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.

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⁽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 graph and a table are available at the following address: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/cmoa0709.pdf.