TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - May 9, 2016) - Housing starts in the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) trended at 41,652 units in April 2016 compared to 41,896 in March 2016 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.

"April saw Toronto housing starts remain largely on trend," said Dana Senagama, CMHC Principal Market Analyst for the GTA. "Home starts were buoyed by new apartments, some of which were purpose-built for rental. Low-rise home starts were also high, as record low inventories in the resale market continued to drive buyers to the new home market".

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 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 37,140 units in April, down from 55,738 units in March. The decrease was the result of fewer apartment and single-detached starts.

The City of Toronto recorded the highest number of starts within the Toronto CMA due to more apartment starts in April. Brampton and Vaughan had the next highest number of starts as a result of a strong number of low-rise 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.

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

This release is also available at www.cmhc.ca

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/1053864a.pdf