2012 Housing Starts in Sudbury – Daily Commercial News

Real Estate — January 9, 2013

2012 Housing Starts in Sudbury

SUDBURY, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Jan. 9, 2013) - Housing starts in the Greater Sudbury, Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) were trending at 722 units in December, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). The trend is a six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR)¹ of housing starts. The standalone monthly SAAR was 577 units in December, down from 996 in November.

"December new construction in Sudbury was highlighted by 23 single-detached units, slightly down from the 10 year average for the month of December. Two semi-detached units rounded out the month and the year. Five hundred and thirty six units started construction in Sudbury in 2012, down ten per cent from 2011. Weaker-than-expected employment growth has been a key factor limiting new single-detached construction to 294 units," said Warren Philp, CMHC's Market Analyst for Sudbury.

CMHC uses the trend measure as a complement to the monthly SAAR of housing starts to account for considerable swings in monthly estimates and obtain a more complete picture of the state of the housing market. In some situations, analysing only SAAR data can be misleading in some markets, as they are largely driven by the multiples segment of the markets, which can be quite variable from one month to the next. The multiples segment includes apartments, rows and semi-detached homes.

Although construction of semi-detached, row and apartment units topped the 200 mark for the fourth consecutive year in Greater Sudbury ending the year at 242, they were down 12 per cent from 2011. The appeal in higher density housing is linked with a moderately low vacancy rate and the relatively high cost of buying a single-detached home.

Preliminary Housing Starts data is also available in English and French at the following link: Preliminary Housing Starts Tables.

As Canada's national housing agency, CMHC draws on more than 65 years of experience to help Canadians access a variety of quality, environmentally sustainable and affordable housing solutions. 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 informed decisions.

For more information, visit www.cmhc.ca or call 1-800-668-2642. CMHC Market Analysis standard reports are also available free for download at CMHC Housing Market Information.

Follow CMHC on Twitter @CMHC_ca.

¹ All starts figures in this release, other than actual starts and the trend estimate, 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 ups and downs, seasonal adjustment allows for a comparison from one season to the next and from one month to the next. Reporting monthly figures at annual rates indicates the annual level of starts that would be obtained 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.

Additional data is available upon request.

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To view the tables and graph associated with this press release, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/fi845534.pdf.

Contact Information

Market Analysis Contact:
Warren Philp
807-343-2016 or Cell: 807-627-1329
wphilp@cmhc.ca

Media Contact:
Beth Bailey
Consultant, Communications and Marketing
416-218-3355 or Cell: 416-988-4615
bbailey@cmhc.ca
www.cmhc.ca