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April Housing Starts

OTTAWA, May 10, 2010 — The seasonally adjusted annual rate¹ of housing starts was 201,700 units in April, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), up slightly from a revised 199,200 units in March.

“Higher multiple starts were nearly offset by a decline in single starts and rural area² starts in April. As a result, total housing starts edged higher in April,” said Bob Dugan, Chief Economist at CMHC’s Market Analysis Centre.

The seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts increased by 5.1 per cent to 182,500 units in April. Urban multiple starts increased by 27.2 per cent to 98,600 units, while single urban starts decreased by 12.7 per cent to 83,900 units.

April’s seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts increased 16.4 per cent in British Columbia, 6.7 per cent in the Prairie region, 4.5 per cent in Ontario, and 1.1 per cent in Quebec. Urban starts decreased 3.3 per cent in Atlantic Canada.

Rural starts were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 19,200 units in April.

As Canada's national housing agency, CMHC draws on more than 60 years of experience to help Canadians access a variety of high quality, environmentally sustainable and affordable homes. CMHC also provides reliable, impartial and up-to-date housing market reports, analysis and knowledge to support and assist consumers and the housing industry in making vital decisions.

For more information, call 1-800-668-2642.

¹ All starts figures in this release, other than actual starts, are seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR) — that is, monthly figures adjusted to remove normal seasonal variation and multiplied by 12 to reflect annual levels. By removing seasonal up and downs, seasonal adjustment makes it possible to highlight the fundamental trends of a series. Reporting monthly figures at annual rates indicates the annual level of starts that would obtain if the monthly pace was maintained for 12 months. This facilitates comparison of the current pace of activity to annual forecasts as well as to historical annual levels.

² CMHC estimates the level of starts in centres with a population of less than 10,000 for each of the three months of the quarter, at the beginning of each quarter. During the last month of the quarter, CMHC conducts the survey in these centres and revises the estimate.

Source: CMHC
*Seasonally adjusted annual rates
**Urban centres with a population of 10,000 and over.
    Detailed data available upon request.