TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Jan. 10, 2017) - Housing starts in the Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) were trending up at 5,218 units in December compared to 4,338 units in November, 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.
"Total housing starts trended higher in December due to increased apartment starts. Apartment starts were trending at the highest level in more than 18 months. The trend for other housing types was relatively flat in December," said Erica McLerie, Senior Market Analyst at CMHC. "Job and wage growth, in-migration and a very tight resale market have translated into increased demand for new homes in 2016. Students and young professionals supported the strong demand for apartments."
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 multiples segment includes apartments, rows and semi-detached homes.
The SAAR of total housing starts was 9,678 units in December, up from 2,634 units in November. The increase in the SAAR measure was due to the increase in apartment starts in December. For all of 2016, actual housing starts reached 4,074, up 26.8 per cent compared to 2015, due to 40 per cent increases in the starts for single-detached homes and apartments. All municipalities in the CMA saw double digit gains in starts in 2016.
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/1082171_KITCHNER_E.pdf
Contact Information:
Angelina Ritacco
416-218-3320
aritacco@cmhc.ca