November Housing Starts in New Brunswick

MONCTON, NB, Dec. 8 /CNW/ - According to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation's (CMHC's) preliminary data(1) released today, residential construction in November was unchanged from last year's monthly total with 239 starts in New Brunswick's urban centres.

"With a strong showing in both single and multiple starts in November, residential construction activity was sufficient to match last year's output for the month," said Claude Gautreau , CMHC's senior market analyst for New Brunswick . Single starts in provincial urban centres during the month of November were down five per cent from last year's level to 132 units. Year-to-date, single starts continued to trail last year's pace with a 21.1 per cent decline to 1,259 units.

Meanwhile, a total of 107 multiple starts were recorded in November of this year, resulting in a seven per cent, year-over-year increase compared to the same month in 2008. Year-to-date to the end of November, multiple starts were down 17.8 per cent compared to the same period last year. "Despite the strong showing in November, year-to-date residential construction activity in 2009 continues to trail last year's pace, a trend that will remain to the end of the year," continued Gautreau.

In urban centres across Canada , total housing starts in November were virtually unchanged in 2009, with 13,507 units compared to last year's total of 13,500. Single-detached starts were up 15 per cent to 6,671 units, while multiple unit starts were down 11 per cent from 7,718 units last year to 6,836 units this year. In the Atlantic region, 641 new units were started in November 2009 compared to 734 units during the same period in 2008.

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
                           NEW BRUNSWICK SUMMARY"
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                             2009   2008              YEAR-TO-DATE
                             -----------  % Change    ------------  % Change
                              NOV    NOV              2009    2008
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                 ALL URBAN CENTRES WITH POPULATIONS GREATER THAN 50,000
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    SAINT JOHN CMA
    Single                     40     33      21.2%    341     454    -24.9%
    Multiple                   14     14       0.0%    284     334    -15.0%
    TOTAL                      54     47      14.9%    625     788    -20.7%
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    MONCTON CMA
    Single                     38     52     -26.9%    395     542    -27.1%
    Multiple                   83     38       (XX)    489     777    -37.1%
    TOTAL                     121     90      34.4%    884   1,319    -33.0%
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    FREDERICTON CA
    Single                     47     43       9.3%    375     458    -18.1%
    Multiple                   10     44     -77.3%    334     210     59.0%
    TOTAL                      57     87     -34.5%    709     668      6.1%
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           ALL URBAN CENTRES WITH POPULATION GREATER THAN 10,000(X)
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    ALL CENTRES
    Single                    132    139      -5.0%  1,259   1,595    -21.1%
    Multiple                  107    100       7.0%  1,170   1,424    -17.8%
    TOTAL                     239    239       0.0%  2,429   3,019    -19.5%
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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.

    (X)  Includes all centres with a total population of more than 10,000
         (Saint John CMA, Moncton CMA, Fredericton CA, Bathurst CA,
         Campbellton CA, Edmundston CA, and Miramichi City).
    (XX) Indicates changes in excess of 100% which are not reported due to
         volatility resulting from small absolute numbers.
    

For further information: Claude Gautreau, CMHC Market Analysis Centre, [phone], Cell: [phone], [email protected]