TORONTO, ONTARIO-- (Marketwired - June 8, 2015) - Housing starts in Hamilton Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) were trending down at 1,339 units in May compared to 1,489 units in April, 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 trend in Hamilton CMA total housing starts declined in May 2015, entirely due to fewer multi-unit housing starts. Builders have scaled back activity to manage a relatively high number of unsold multi-unit dwellings, particularly townhouses. Conversely, the trend in single-detached housing starts was up in May compared to the previous month. The limited supply of single-detached homes in established locations in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) has resulted in higher prices which in turn has encouraged some buyers to move to Hamilton. This migration pattern continued to support single-detached housing construction in Hamilton," said Abdul Kargbo, CMHC's Senior Market Analyst for Hamilton and Brantford CMAs.
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.
The standalone monthly SAAR was 2,190 units in May, up from 1,213 units in April, marking two consecutive monthly increases. This month's increase in the SAAR measure of total housing starts reflected a higher number of single-detached housing starts in both the City of Hamilton and the City of Burlington.
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As Canada's authority on housing, CMHC contributes to the stability of the housing market and financial system, provides support for Canadians in housing need, and offers objective housing research and information to Canadian governments, consumers and the housing industry.
(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.
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