TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - May 9, 2016) - Total housing starts in the London Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) trended down slightly from 1,770 units in March to 1,741 units in April, 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.

"Single-detached starts stopped putting upward pressure on the total starts trend measure this month. A high number of completed and unsold new single-detached homes discouraged builders from increasing starts above its current high level, as they had to focus more on managing their inventories," 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 2,160 units in April, up from 1,529 units in March due to higher multi-unit home starts. The monthly SAAR of semi-detached, row and apartment starts were all higher in April.

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.

(Ce document existe également en français)

Tables and a graph are available at the following address: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1053849e.pdf