April Housing Starts in St. John's Area

ST. JOHN'S, May 10 /CNW/ - Urban housing starts increased during the month of April, according to preliminary data(1) released today by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). April's housing starts totaled 129 throughout the St. John's area versus 87 starts in April of 2009. There were four additional starts recorded outside the St. John's area, for a total of 133 provincial urban starts compared to 106 last April.

"April's brisk new home construction activity positioned the market 48 per cent ahead of the same month last year and 25 per cent year-to-date," said Chris Janes, senior market analyst with CMHC in Newfoundland and Labrador. "Continued growth in local employment, income and population combined with low mortgage rates has supported residential construction activity during the first four months of 2010," added Janes.

In urban centres across Canada, total housing starts increased 79 per cent with 14,995 recorded in April compared to 8,387 during April of 2009. Throughout Atlantic Canada, there were 573 urban housing starts posted versus 419 the previous April, an increase of 37 per cent.

As Canada's national housing agency, CMHC draws on more than 60 years of experience to help Canadians access a variety of 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.

    
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    (1) Figures for the most recent month are preliminary and subject to
        revisions due to corrections or updates from quarterly enumeration or
        sampling results.
    

For more information, visit www.cmhc.ca or call 1-800-668-2642.

    
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                   PRELIMINARY URBAN MONTHLY HOUSING STARTS
                       NEWFOUNDLAND & LABRADOR SUMMARY
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                          2010    2009               YEAR-TO-DATE
                         --------------  % Change   --------------  % Change
                           APR     APR               2010    2009
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             ALL URBAN CENTRES WITH POPULATIONS (greater than) 50,000
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    ST. JOHN'S CMA
    Single                 115      83       38.6%    314     249       26.1%
    Multiple                14       4        (XX)     61      52       17.3%
    TOTAL                  129      87       48.3%    375     301       24.6%
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             ALL URBAN CENTRES WITH POPULATION (greater than) 10,000
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    ALL CENTRES*
    Single                 119     100       19.0%    322     274       17.5%
    Multiple                14       6        (XX)     73      56       30.4%
    TOTAL                  133     106       25.5%    395     330       19.7%
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    Figures for the most recent month are preliminary and subject to
    revisions due to corrections or updates from quarterly enumeration or
    sampling results.

    *    Includes all centres with a total population of more than 10,000
         (St. John's CMA, Bay Roberts CA, Corner Brook CA, Gander CA, Grand
         Falls/Windsor CA)

    (XX) Indicates changes in excess of 100% which are not reported due to
         volatility resulting from small absolute numbers.
    

For further information: on this release: Chris Janes, Senior Market Analyst - NL, CMHC Market Analysis Centre, [phone], Cell: [phone], [email protected]