August 2013 Housing Starts in Toronto


TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Sept. 10, 2013) - Housing starts in the Toronto, Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) were trending at 33,793 units in August compared to 34,160 in July 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.

"Housing starts in the Toronto CMA have stabilized in part due to a rebound in condominium apartments in August. About half of the apartment starts were outside the City of Toronto," said Ed Heese, CMHC's Toronto Senior Market Analyst.

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 40,364 units in August, up from 31,329 in July. Most of the increase was due to higher apartment starts. The current strength in apartment starts reflects the record number of condominium apartment projects which began selling in 2011. Having sold a significant proportion of their units, these projects are now reaching the stage where they can begin construction.

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.

This release is also available at www.cmhc.ca

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/897179e.pdf

Contact Information:

Market Analysis Contact:
Ed Heese
416 218-3369
eheese@cmhc.ca

Media Contact:
Beth Bailey
416 218-3355
bbailey@cmhc.ca