Fewer Housing Starts on Prince Edward Island in Q1 2016

HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA--(Marketwired - April 8, 2016) - Housing starts in Prince Edward Island's urban areas were trending at 384 units in March compared to 460 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.

"Urban area housing starts on Prince Edward Island trended lower in March for both singles and multiples units," said Sarena Teakles, Market Analyst. "This pattern is consistent with first quarter 2016 actual housing starts figures; year-over-year declines were recorded for both the singles and multiples segments of the market," Teakles 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 162 units in March, up from 55 in February.

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/1049864E.pdf