Source: Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation - Ottawa HQ

September 2015 Housing Starts in London

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Oct. 8, 2015) - Housing starts in the London Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) were trending up slightly at 2,439 units in September compared to 2,372 in August, 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.

"Despite a slow September, the housing starts trend remained above estimated annual household formation in London in recent years. Greater job growth this year has supported greater household formation, leading to higher starts in the past six months," 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 1,212 units in September, down from 4,014 in August primarily due to 2,712 annualized apartment starts in August and none in September. Apartment starts historically do not occur every month in London. Starts of all other dwelling types also decreased in September, but the change was much less pronounced than with apartment starts.

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.

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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.

(Ce document existe également en français)

Tables and a graph are available at the following address: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1027884_ENG.pdf

Contact Information:

Media Contact:
Angelina Ritacco
416-218-3320
aritacco@cmhc.ca