December 2016 Housing Starts in Hamilton CMA

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Jan. 10, 2017) - Housing starts in Hamilton Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) were trending up at 3,836 units in December compared to 2,833 units in November, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). The trend is a six month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR) of housing starts.

"The trend in Hamilton CMA total housing starts was up primarily due to strong apartment starts in December 2016 compared to the previous month. The trend in single-detached housing starts was up although the increase was not as pronounced as in multi-unit housing starts," said Abdul Kargbo, CMHC's Senior Market Analyst for Hamilton and Brantford CMAs. "The trend in multi-unit housing starts reached a record level in December 2016, reflecting strong first-time buyer demand. The record in December puts a crowning touch to the highest annual total housing starts since 2010."

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 9,560 units in December, up from 2,113 units in November. Similar to the trend measure, the December increase in the SAAR measure was mostly due to an exceptionally high number of apartment starts compared to the previous month.

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.

SALES SET RECORD FOR DECEMBER

The REALTORS® Association of Hamilton-Burlington (RAHB) reported 904 sales were processed through the RAHB Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) System in December. Sales were 13.1 per cent higher than the same month last year and set a new high for the month of December. This was the sixth month in 2016 to see a new monthly sales record.

[Click here to read the full report (PDF)]

Desire for detached homes growing in Ontario, new research from OREA shows

TORONTO, ON--(Marketwired - December 28, 2016) - Half of Ontarians in the market to buy a home in the next two years say they are looking for a detached house, up 13 points from a year ago, shows new research from the Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA). In Toronto, where supply of detached homes is at an all-time low, the demand is up 21 points from a year ago, with 50% of buyers saying they are likely to buy this housing type, according to the Ontario Home Ownership Index, OREA's semi-annual consumer study conducted by Ipsos Reid.

"With limited supply of this housing type, it's becoming increasingly difficult to meet the demand," said Tim Hudak, OREA CEO. "Young families looking for more space, a backyard to play with their kids in, simply don't have enough options to choose from. Increasing the supply of single-family detached houses, as well as semis and townhouses, will give buyers more choice at affordable levels."

The Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) recently reported that housing supply has plummeted over the past decade. The lack of housing supply is a key driving factor for increasing prices of new single-family detached houses and high-rise condos in the GTA.

"Demand for detached houses is up while supply is critically low -- no wonder prices are rising so quickly," said Hudak. "We need more homes on the market; government should give careful consideration to policies that will increase supply. Home ownership is not a fad -- it is the Canadian dream."

According to OREA's Ontario Home Ownership Index, eight out of ten Ontarians consistently say that home ownership is important to them (79%), real estate is a good investment (82%) and it makes more sense to own rather than rent (81%). 'Long-term investment value' is Ontarians' top reason for buying a home (34%).

Housing Types - Ontario compared to Toronto
Types of homes Ontario and Toronto buyers say they are likely to purchase in the next two years
Ontarians say:		Torontonians say:
50% - likely to buy a detached house in the next two years, up 13 points from a year ago		50% - likely to buy a detached house, up 21% from a year ago
19% - likely to buy a condo in the next two years, down 7 points from a year ago		22% - likely to buy a condo, down 17% from a year ago
19% - likely to buy a semi-detached home, up 4 points from a year ago		23% - likely to buy a semi-detached home, up 3 points
14% - likely to buy a townhome, down 2 points from a year ago		22% - likely to buy a townhome, up 2 points

Methodology
These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between October 27 and 31, 2016, on behalf of the Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA). For this survey, a sample of 1,003 Ontarians from Ipsos' online panel was interviewed online. Weighting was then employed to balance demographics to ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the adult population according to Census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within +/ - 3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Ontario adults been polled. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.

About The Ontario Home Ownership Index
The Ontario Home Ownership Index is designed to reflect Ontarians' overall views of the residential real estate market in Ontario, and incorporates measures such as Ontarians' perceptions of whether the market in their neighbourhood, city, and Ontario, respectively, have improved or worsened in the last year and looking ahead into the future, whether home ownership is important to them and whether it is a good investment in the long-term. The first wave of the index, conducted in the fall 2013, was set to a baseline of 100 points.

About the Ontario Real Estate Association
The Ontario Real Estate Association represents 67,800 brokers and salespeople who are members of the 40 real estate boards throughout the province. OREA serves its REALTOR® members through a wide variety of professional publications, educational programs, advocacy, and other services. www.OREA.com