Canadian Housing Starts Fall in December

The trend measure of housing starts in Canada was 198,053 units in December compared to 200,105 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.

“December saw multi-unit construction slow for the third consecutive month in Canada, leading housing starts to trend down,” said Bob Dugan, CMHC Chief Economist. “However, 2016 still counted more home starts than 2015. Increased demand for single-detached homes more than offset the decline we’re seeing in multi-unit construction – a decline that’s in response to efforts to manage current inventories.”

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 Canada’s housing market. In some situations analyzing only SAAR data can be misleading, as they are largely driven by the multi-unit segment of the market which can vary significantly from one month to the next.

via CMHC

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