Jan. 16, 2014, Ottawa — Housing starts in Canada were trending at 195,760 units in December, down somewhat from 196,430 units in November, according to the 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.
"The trend in housing starts has remained essentially stable since October 2013," said Bruno Duhamel, manager of economic and housing analysis at CMHC. "Housing demand continues to be healthy in Canada. The trend in existing home sales has been increasing since April 2013, while the trend in inventories of newly completed and unabsorbed homes has been declining at a modest pace since September 2013."
The standalone monthly SAAR was 189,672 units in December, a decrease from 197,797 in November. The SAAR of urban starts decreased by 5.1 per cent in December to 168,214 units.
Multiple urban starts decreased by 4.1 per cent to 108,910 units in December while the single-detached urban starts segment of the markets decreased by 6.7 per cent to 59,304 units.
Last month's SAAR of urban starts increased in British Columbia and Quebec, while decreasing in the Prairies, Atlantic Canada and Ontario.
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