January Housing Starts

OTTAWA, February 8, 2010 — The seasonally adjusted annual rate1 of housing starts reached 186,300 units in January 2010. This is an increase from an annual rate of 176,100 units in December 2009, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). According to final figures, actual housing starts for 2009 totalled 149,081 units, with activity improving as the year progressed.

“Housing starts improved in both the singles and multiples segments in January,� said Bob Dugan, Chief Economist at CMHC’s Market Analysis Centre. “These increases are similar to the ones that occurred in December.�

The seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts increased by 4.4 per cent to 165,200 units in January. Urban multiple starts increased by 5.7 per cent to 76,300 units while single urban starts increased by 3.3 per cent to 88,900 units.

January’s seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts increased by 19.8 per cent in British Columbia, by 7.3 per cent in Quebec, by 2.3 per cent in Atlantic Canada, and by 1.5 per cent in the Ontario. In the Prairie region, the seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts decreased by 4.8 per cent.

Rural starts were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 21,100 units in January2.

As Canada's national housing agency, CMHC draws on more than 60 years of experience to help Canadians access a variety of quality, environmentally sustainable and affordable homes. 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 vital decisions.

For more information, call 1-800-668-2642.

1 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 variation and multiplied by 12 to reflect annual levels.

2 CMHC estimates the level of rural starts for each of the three months of the quarter, at the beginning of each quarter. During the last month of the quarter, CMHC conducts the survey in rural areas and revises the estimate.

Information on this release:
Charles Sauriol
CMHC
Media Relations
613-748-2799
csauriol@cmhc-schl.gc.ca

For regional starts information contact:
Atlantic provinces:
Alex MacDonald
CMHC
902-426-8964
amacdona@cmhc-schl.gc.ca

Ontario:
Ted Tsiakopoulos
CMHC
416-218-3407
ttsiakop@cmhc-schl.gc.ca

British Columbia:
Robyn Adamache
CMHC
604-737-4144
radamach@cmhc-schl.gc.ca
Quebec:
Kevin Hughes
CMHC
514-283-4488
khughes@cmhc-schl.gc.ca

Prairie provinces:
Lai Sing Louie
CMHC
403-515-2991
llouie@cmhc-schl.gc.ca



Housing Starts, Actual and SAAR*
Actual SAAR
January
2009 January
2010 December
2009 January
2010
Final Preliminary Final Preliminary
Canada, all areas 8,096 10,952 176,100 186,300
Canada, rural areas 787 734 17,800 21,100
Canada, urban centres** 7,309 10,218 158,300 165,200
Canada, singles, urban centres 2,605 4,723 86,100 88,900
Canada, multiples, urban centres 4,704 5,495 72,200 76,300

Atlantic region, urban centres 355 424 8,800 9,000
Quebec, urban centres 1,997 2,911 45,100 48,400
Ontario, urban centres 2,892 3,330 52,500 53,300
Prairie region, urban centres 1,143 1,854 31,200 29,700
British Columbia, urban centres 922 1,699 20,700 24,800

Source: CMHC
*Seasonally adjusted annual rates
**Urban centres with a population of 10,000 and over.
Detailed data available upon request.