Housing Starts Decline 12.3 Per Cent in February

OTTAWA, Ontario, March 8, 2002 — The seasonally adjusted annual rate* of housing starts in Canada declined 12.3 per cent in February to 179,800 units from 205,100 units in January, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).

Urban singles were up 11.6 per cent to an annual rate of 99,700 units from 89,300 in January while urban multiple starts fell 37.3 per cent to an annual rate of 60,100 units from 95,800. Estimated rural starts remained at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 20,000 units.

"Despite the drop in the annual rate of housing starts in February, activity remains quite strong. In fact, the annual rate of single-detached starts is the highest since March 1990," said Michel Laurence, senior advisor of economic and housing analysis at CMHC's Market Analysis Centre. "Low mortgage rates are stimulating demand for housing and given the limited number of listings in the existing home market, many home buyers are looking for new homes."

Actual urban housing starts for January and February this year are 27.3 per cent higher than for the same periosd last year, 20,667 units compared with 16,233 units. The single detached market increased 26.2 per cent while multiples increased 28.4 per cent.

*Most starts figures in this release are seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR), that is, actual monthly figures adjusted to remove normal seasonal variation and multiplied by 12 to reflect an annual pace.

Information:
Michel Laurence
CMHC
(613) 748-2737
mlaurenc@cmhc-schl.gc.ca