December 2014 Housing Starts in Prince Edward Island

MONCTON, NEW BRUNSWICK--(Marketwired - Jan. 9, 2015) - Housing starts in Prince Edward Island were trending at 319 units in December compared to 361 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 pace of residential construction trended lower in December as total starts trailed last year's pace with both single and multi-residential starts slowing significantly during the latter part of the year," said Claude Gautreau, Senior Market Analyst with CMHC's Atlantic Market Analysis Centre. "While overall construction activity was down for the year, the substantial decline in total starts observed in 2014 was mainly due to fewer starts in the rental market in Charlottetown as a result of the relatively high vacancy rate," Gautreau added.

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 328 units in December, up from 301 in November.

Preliminary Housing Starts data is also available in English and French at the following link: Preliminary Housing Starts Tables

As Canada's authority on housing, CMHC contributes to the stability of the housing market and financial system, provides support for Canadians in housing need, and offers objective housing research and advice to Canadian governments, consumers and the housing industry.

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¹All 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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To view the graph and tables associated with this release, please visit the following link: http://file.marketwire.com/release/986918e.pdf