OTTAWA, Ontario, June 8, 2004 — The seasonally adjusted annual rate1 of housing starts was 238,800 in May, compared with 241,600 in April, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).
"Housing construction is off to a strong start this year," said Bob Dugan, Chief Economist at CMHC's Market Analysis Centre. "January to May had the most starts for any such period since 1987. The housing market continues to benefit from positive economic factors nationwide, particularly low mortgage rates, improving employment and strong consumer confidence."
The seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts fell 1.3 per cent to 208,000 units in May. Urban multiple starts decreased 6.2 per cent in May to 101,100 but urban single starts rose 3.8 per cent to 106,900 on a seasonally adjusted annual basis.
In all regions of Canada, except British Columbia, the seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts increased in May: 6.2 per cent in the Atlantic; 2.3 per cent in Quebec; 2.1 per cent in Ontario and; 1.5 per cent in the Prairies. In British Columbia, the seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts fell 16.5 per cent in May, but despite this decline, starts are up nearly 50 per cent on a year-to-date basis.
Rural starts in May were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 30,800 units.
Year to date actual urban starts were 10.4 per cent higher through May than for the same period last year. Single starts were up 5.4 per cent while multiple starts were up 15.9 per cent.
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.
Atlantic provinces:
Alex MacDonald
CMHC
(902) 426-8964
amacdona@cmhc-schl.gc.ca
Quebec:
Kevin Hughes
CMHC
(514) 283-4488
khughes@cmhc-schl.gc.ca
Ontario:
Ted Tsiakopoulos
CMHC
(416) 218-3407
ttsiakop@cmhc-schl.gc.ca
Prairie provinces:
Brent Weimer
CMHC
(403) 515-3004
bweimer@cmhc-schl.gc.ca
British Columbia:
Carol Frketich
CMHC
(604) 737-4067
cfrketic@cmhc-schl.gc.ca
|
Housing Starts, Actual and SAAR*
|
||||
|
April 2004 |
May 2004 Preliminary
|
|||
|
Actual
|
SAAR
|
Actual
|
SAAR
|
|
| Canada, all areas |
22,752
|
241,600
|
23,568
|
238,800
|
| Canada, rural areas |
3,129
|
30,800
|
3,354
|
30,800
|
| Canada, urban centres** |
19,623
|
210,800
|
20,214
|
208,000
|
| Canada, singles, urban centres |
9,731
|
103,000
|
10,965
|
106,900
|
| Canada, multiples, urban centres |
9,892
|
107,800
|
9,249
|
101,100
|
|
|
||||
| Atlantic region, urban centres |
548
|
8,100
|
891
|
8,600
|
| Quebec, urban centres |
5,428
|
48,400
|
5,326
|
49,500
|
| Ontario, urban centres |
7,161
|
80,600
|
7,979
|
82,300
|
| Prairie region, urban centres |
2,823
|
33,700
|
3,037
|
34,200
|
| British Columbia, urban centres |
3,663
|
40,000
|
2,981
|
33,400
|