Canadian Housing Starts for March 2011

The Canadian housing market continues to rise. The seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts was 188,800 units in March, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC). This is up from 183,700 units in February 2011.

“Housing starts moved higher in March mostly because of increases in rural starts,” said Bob Dugan, chief economist at CMHC’s Market Analysis Centre. “Urban starts saw little change as the increase in Ontario’s multiples segment was offset by a decrease in British Columbia’s multiples and a decrease in single housing starts in the Prairies.”

The seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts increased by 0.4 per cent to 163,500 units in March. Urban multiple starts were up by 6.6 per cent in March to 101,400 units, while single urban starts decreased by 8.3 per cent to 62,100 units. March’s seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts decreased by 23.4 per cent in British Columbia and by 19.3 per cent in the Prairies. Urban starts increased by 13.6 per cent in Ontario, by 11.5 per cent in the Atlantic region and by 8.6 per cent in Quebec.

Rural starts were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 25,300 units in March. All starts figures in this release, other than actual starts, are seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR) — that is, monthly figures adjusted to remove normal seasonal variations and multiplied by 12 to reflect annual levels. By removing seasonal ups and downs, seasonal adjustment makes it possible to highlight the fundamental trends of a series. 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.

As Canada’s national housing agency, CMHC draws on more than 65 years of experience to help Canadians access a variety of high-quality, environmentally sustainable and affordable homes.