VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - July 11, 2016) - Housing starts in the Vancouver Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) were trending at 29,932 units in June compared to 28,234 units in May, 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.

"Vancouver housing starts continue to pick up pace for all home types, pushing the trend measure to its highest level since 1990," said Robyn Adamache, CMHC Principal Market Analyst for Vancouver. "With low inventories of new and unsold homes and a limited number of existing homes for sale, developers have increased the number of housing starts to meet demand."

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 35,445 units in June, up from 23,513 units in May due to a large increase in multiple-family home starts.

Housing starts in the Abbotsford-Mission CMA were trending at 1,403 units in June, up from 1,284 units in May as construction increased for all home types.

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)

To view the graph and tables accompanying this press release please click on the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1062067a.pdf