Real Estate — January 9, 2013

December 2012 Housing Starts in Ottawa

OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Jan. 9, 2013) - Housing starts in Ottawa, Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) were trending at 4,273 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 4,237 units in December up from 3,967 units in November.

"In December, housing starts moderated from a year earlier on declines in both single and row structures. Notwithstanding, the year ended with total starts rising 4 per cent over the previous year`s pace boosted by strong apartment construction in May while starts activity declined in the other market segments," Sandra Pérez Torres, Senior Market Analyst for Eastern and Northern Ontario.

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.

In December Kanata led the starts activity, followed by West Carleton, Old Ottawa City and Cumberland. Together the four areas captured almost two-thirds of total activity. Activity in Kanata was led by a rise in row housing starts which were over double their December 2011 level, while singles construction quadrupled, but remained lower than rows. The year ended with over one-third of the construction taking place in Old Ottawa City followed by Nepean at 18 per cent and Kanata with a 12.6 per cent share of the total.

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.

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.

(Ce document existe également en français)

To view the tables and graph associated with this press release, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/CMHC0108845557E.pdf

Contact Information

Information on this release:
Sandra Perez-Torres
Senior Market Analyst
613-748-5120
sperezto@cmhc.ca

National Media Contact:
Beth Bailey
Consultant, Communications and Marketing
416-218-3355
bbailey@cmhc.ca

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