OTTAWA, Ontario, May 8, 2002 — The seasonally adjusted annual rate* of housing starts in Canada decreased 11.3 per cent in April to 184,500 units from a revised 208,000 units in March, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).
Urban singles declined 6.4 per cent to an annual rate of 96,600 units in April from 103,200 in March while urban multiple starts were down 17.7 per cent to an annual rate of 62,000 units from 75,300. Rural starts, estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 25,900 units in April, were down from a revised 29,500 units in March.
"The April decline in the seasonally adjusted annual rate was to be expected as it came on the heels of a very high and unsustainable rate in March, the second best month in over 10 years," said Michel Laurence, Chief Economist at CMHC's Market Analysis Centre. "Despite the decline, April's starts rate is still 14.9 per cent higher than a year ago and the trend in new home construction remains positive."
Actual urban housing starts for January to April this year are 25.2 per cent higher than the same period last year (47,855 units compared with 38,218 units). The single detached market increased 32.1 per cent while multiples increased 17.7 per cent.
Information on this release:Michel Laurence
CMHC
(613) 748-2737
mlaurenc@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: Carl Gomez, CMHC, (604) 737-4067,
cgomez@cmhc-schl.gc.ca
| Housing Starts Actual and Seasonally Adjusted Annual Data |
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| March 2002 Final |
April 2002 Preliminary |
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| Province | Actual | SAAR | Actual | SAAR |
| Newfoundland | 39 | 1,600 | 113 | 1,600 |
| Prince Edward Island | 15 | 700 | 40 | 500 |
| Nova Scotia | 98 | 2,400 | 204 | 2,900 |
| New Brunswick | 46 | 1,700 | 188 | 2,700 |
| Quebec | 2,293 | 30,900 | 3,952 | 31,000 |
| Ontario | 5,291 | 80,600 | 6,670 | 71,600 |
| Manitoba | 117 | 1,900 | 153 | 1,700 |
| Saskatchewan | 80 | 1,300 | 181 | 2,000 |
| Alberta | 2,585 | 39,500 | 2,669 | 30,600 |
| British Columbia | 1,300 | 17,900 | 1,149 | 14,000 |
| Total (+10,000 pop.) | 11,864 | 178,500 | 15,319 | 158,600 |
| Other area estimates (Less than 10,000 pop.) |
1,018 | 29,500 | 2,513 | 25,900 |
| Canada | 12,882 | 208,000 | 17,832 | 184,500 |
* 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.