August 2015 Housing Starts in London

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Sept. 9, 2015) - Housing starts in the London Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) were trending up at 2,358 units in August compared to 2,192 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.

"Total starts trended up in August primarily due to higher apartment starts in the last six months. Demand for new apartments has been supported by a growing number of one or two person households in London. New apartments are primarily designed to suit the tastes of people aged 25 to 34 years old or 55 years and older, as they head the vast majority of these smaller households," said Anthony Passarelli, Senior Market Analyst with CMHC.

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 monthly SAAR of total starts was 4,036 units in August, up from 1,229 in July primarily due to occurrence of apartment starts, which do not happen every month in London. Single-detached and semi-detached starts were also higher in August. Housing starts were likely impacted by the City of London inside workers strike that lasted from May 25 2015 to July 22 2015 ⁽²⁾.

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 information to Canadian governments, consumers and the housing industry.

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.

⁽²⁾ Builders are legally required to obtain a building permit before starting construction of a new home. The City of London Building Division advised builders to expect delays processing building permit applications.

Additional data is available upon request.

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Tables and a graph are available at the following address: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1024301e.pdf