OTTAWA, Ontario, July 8, 2002 — The seasonally adjusted annual rate* of housing starts in Canada slipped 0.6 per cent in June to 202,100 units from 203,300 units in May, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).
Urban singles declined 4.4 per cent to an annual rate of 102,500 units from 107,200 in May while urban multiple starts rose 5.0 per cent to an annual rate of 73,700 units from 70,200. Estimated rural starts remained at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 25,900 units.
"New residential construction has shown tremendous momentum in the first half of 2002. It reflects a combination of factors which have prevailed since January: low mortgage rates, strong job creation, high consumer confidence, and low inventories of unoccupied units," said Lucia Su, Director of CMHC's Market Analysis Centre. "While all provinces have shown higher housing starts this year, relative to last year, Quebec, Ontario and Alberta have led the way."
Actual urban housing starts for January to June this year are 25.5 per cent higher than the same period last year (83,860 units compared with 66,802 units). The single-detached market increased 36.7 per cent while multiples increased 12.7 per cent.
*Most starts figures in this release are seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR) that are monthly figures adjusted to remove normal seasonal variation and multiplied by 12 to reflect annual levels.
Information on this release:Lucia Su
CMHC (613) 748-2313
lsu@cmhc-schl.gc.ca
For regional starts information contact:
Atlantic provinces:
Ralph Freeze
CMHC
(902) 426-8964
rfreeze@cmhc-schl.gc.ca
Quebec:
Kevin Hughes
CMHC
(514) 283-4488
khughes@cmhc-schl.gc.ca
Ontario:
Alex Medow
CMHC
(416) 218-3344
amedow@cmhc-schl.gc.ca
Prairie provinces:
Richard Corriveau
CMHC
(403) 515-3005
rcorrive@cmhc-schl.gc.ca
British Columbia:
Cameron Muir
CMHC
(604) 737-4144
cmuir@cmhc-schl.gc.ca
| Housing Starts, Actual and SAAR* | ||||
|
|
May 2002 Final |
June 2002 Preliminary |
||
| Province | Actual | SAAR | Actual | SAAR |
| Newfoundland | 245 | 2,300 | 209 | 1,700 |
| Prince Edward Island | 108 | 1,100 | 45 | 400 |
| Nova Scotia | 361 | 3,400 | 449 | 3,300 |
| New Brunswick | 249 | 2,300 | 371 | 2,900 |
| Quebec | 3,772 | 30,700 | 3,442 | 32,000 |
| Ontario | 8,085 | 82,300 | 7,175 | 76,900 |
| Manitoba | 215 | 2,300 | 231 | 2,100 |
| Saskatchewan | 214 | 1,700 | 184 | 1,600 |
| Alberta | 3,149 | 32,000 | 3,373 | 33,900 |
| British Columbia | 1,971 | 19,300 | 2,157 | 21,400 |
| Total (+10,000 pop.) | 18,369 | 177,400 | 17,636 | 176,200 |
| Other Area Estimates (Less than 10,000 pop.) |
2,552 | 25,900 | 2,825 | 25,900 |
| Canada | 20,921 | 203,300 | 20,461 | 202,100 |
Source: CMHC
* Seasonally adjusted annual rates