March 2016 Housing Starts in Montreal


MONTRÉAL, QUÉBEC--(Marketwired - April 8, 2016) - Housing starts in the Montréal census metropolitan area (CMA) were trending at 17,232 units in March compared to 22,048 in February according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). The trend is a six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR) of housing starts.

"The downward trend was essentially due to a decrease in the number of condominium starts. In this market segment the supply of units for sale remained high on both the new and existing home markets," said Francis Cortellino, CMHC's Principal, Market Analysis, for Montréal.

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, analyzing 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 stand-alone monthly SAAR was 10,909 units in March, down from 15,374 in February. The significant variation in the annual rate was due to the multiple-unit housing segment, where notable fluctuations are often observed from one month to the next.

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.

For more information, visit our website at www.cmhc.ca or follow us on Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and Facebook.

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://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1049848A_Tables_Graph.pdf

Contact Information:

Media Contact
Catherine Leger
514-283-7972
cleger@cmhc.ca