Source: CMHC

Canadian housing starts trend increases in June

Vancouver, July 11, 2016

 Housing starts in the Kelowna Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) were trending at 2,082 units in June, up from 2,019 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, which is the annual total that would result if the pace of construction in the current month continued for an entire year.  

“In the first six months of the year, total housing starts in the Kelowna CMA were up 80 per cent over the same period last year, with a number of rental and condominium apartment projects getting underway,” said Taylor Pardy, CMHC Senior Market Analyst. “Increased resales, a low inventory of unsold new and existing homes and a low vacancy rate remain supportive of multi-unit home construction,” he added.

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 1,402 units in June, compared with 2,591 units in May.

Preliminary Housing Starts Tables