November housing starts

OTTAWA , Dec. 8 /CNW/ - The seasonally adjusted annual rate(1) of housing starts reached 158,500 units in November. This is an increase from 157,400 units started in October, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).

"The improvement in housing starts continued in November," said Bob Dugan , Chief Economist at CMHC's Market Analysis Centre. "Despite a small decline in November's multiple home construction, overall starts numbers were up due to a solid increase in singles starts." The November total is the highest of the year.

The seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts increased by 0.7 per cent to 141,100 units in November. Urban multiple starts decreased slightly from 72,500 units in October to 71,300 units in November. Single urban starts increased by 3.4 per cent to 69,800 units in November.

November's seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts increased by 10 per cent in Quebec , by 8.2 per cent in the Prairies and by 6.2 per cent in British Columbia. The rate of urban starts decreased by 8.3 per cent in Ontario and by 9.8 per cent in Atlantic Canada .

Rural starts were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 17,400 units in November(2).

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.

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

This release is also available on the CMHC Web site: http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca

    
                     Housing Starts, Actual and SAAR*
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                                             Actual              SAAR
                                    -----------------------------------------
                                      November  November   October  November
                                        2008      2009      2009      2009
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                                                 Prelimi-            Prelimi-
                                        Final     nary      Final     nary
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Canada, all areas                   15,491    15,075   157,400   158,500
      Canada, rural areas                1,991     1,568    17,400    17,400
      Canada, urban centres(xx)         13,500    13,507   140,000   141,100
        Canada, singles, urban centres   5,782     6,671    67,500    69,800
        Canada, multiples, urban
         centres                         7,718     6,836    72,500    71,300

        Atlantic region, urban centres     734       641     8,200     7,400
        Quebec, urban centres            4,236     3,693    31,900    35,100
        Ontario, urban centres           4,881     4,724    55,700    51,100
        Prairie region, urban centres    2,179     2,966    28,000    30,300
        British Columbia, urban centres  1,470     1,483    16,200    17,200
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    Source: CMHC
    *  Seasonally adjusted annual rates
    (xx) Urban centres with a population of 10,000 and over.
         Detailed data available upon request.
    

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    (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.
    (2) CMHC estimates the level of rural starts 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 rural areas and
        revises the estimate.
    

For further information: Information on this release: Charles Sauriol, CMHC Media Relations, [phone], [email protected]; For regional starts information contact: Atlantic provinces: Alex MacDonald, CMHC, [phone], [email protected]; Quebec: Kevin Hughes, CMHC, [phone], [email protected]; Ontario: Ted Tsiakopoulos, CMHC, [phone], [email protected]; Prairie provinces: Lai Sing Louie, CMHC, [phone], [email protected]; British Columbia: Carol Frketich, CMHC, [phone], [email protected]