October 2012 Housing Starts in Halifax

Construction/Building — November 8, 2012

HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA--(Marketwire - Nov. 8, 2012) - Housing starts in Halifax, Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) were trending at 3,742 units in October, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). The trend is a six month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR)(1) of housing starts. The standalone monthly SAAR was 7,063 units in October, up from 4,702 in September.

"Total residential housing starts in Halifax posted a significant increase last month as builders broke ground on 597 actual units," said Matthew Gilmore, CMHC`s Senior Market Analyst for Halifax. "The increase is largely attributed to a high level of multiple starts in October, specifically apartment-style rental unit construction," said Gilmore. "Real wage growth, positive net migration patterns and steady levels of employment continue to support demand for all types of housing in the city," added Gilmore.

CMHC uses the trend measure as a complement to the monthly SAAR of housing starts to account for considerable swings in monthly estimates and obtain a more complete picture of the state of the housing market. In some situations, analyzing only SAAR data can be misleading in some markets, as they are largely driven by the multiples segment of the markets, which can be quite variable from one month to the next.

Single-detached starts added 90 actual units in October 2012 compared to 83 units last year. Multiple starts totalled 507 actual units in October compared to 45 units reported in October of last year. Year-to-date total starts have reached 2,504 actual units with multiple starts at 1,672 units and single starts at 832 units. After ten months of the year, total starts are above the level recorded last year.

Preliminary Housing Starts data is also available in English and French at the following link: Preliminary Housing Starts Tables

As Canada's national housing agency, CMHC draws on more than 65 years of experience to help Canadians access a variety of quality, environmentally sustainable and affordable housing solutions. 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 informed decisions.

(1) All starts figures in this release, other than actual starts and the trend estimate, are seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR) - that is, monthly figures adjusted to remove normal seasonal variation and multiplied by 12 to reflect annual levels. By removing seasonal ups and downs, seasonal adjustment allows for a comparison from one season to the next and from one month to the next. Reporting monthly figures at annual rates indicates the annual level of starts that would be obtained if the monthly pace was maintained for 12 months. This facilitates comparison of the current pace of activity to annual forecasts as well as to historical annual levels.

Additional data is available upon request

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A graph is available at the following address: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/HalifaxCMA.pdf

Preliminary Housing Start Data
October/ 2011-2012
Halifax, CMA(1)			October 2011	October 2012
	Actual
		October - Single-Detached	83	90
		October - Multiples	45	507
		October - Total	128	597
		January to October - Single- Detached	753	832
		January to October - Multiples	1,567	1,672
		January to October - Total	2,320	2,504
			September 2012	October 2012
SAAR(2)
Total			4,702	7,063

Source: CMHC
(1)Census Metropolitan Area
(2)Seasonally Adjusted at Annual Rates
Detailed data available upon request.

Nova Scotia Preliminary Actual Housing Start Data
October / 2011-2012
Urban Centres	Single-Detached		Multiples		Total
	2011	2012	2011	2012	2011	2012
Urban Centres 100,000⁺

Halifax CMA	83	90	45	507	128	597
Cape Breton RGM	16	11	30	10	46	21

Total Urban Starts(1)	164	124	90	522	254	646



Nova Scotia Preliminary Actual Housing Start Data
January - October / 2011-2012
Urban Centres	Single-Detached		Multiples		Total
	2011	2012	2011	2012	2011	2012
Urban Centres 100,000⁺

Halifax CMA	753	832	1,567	1,672	2,320	2,504
Cape Breton RGM	101	136	114	129	215	265

Total Urban Starts(1)	1,332	1,434	1,877	1,931	3,209	3,365

Contact Information

Market Analysis Contact:
Matthew Gilmore
902-426-4686
Cell: 902-499-4382
mgilmore@cmhc.ca

Media Contact:
Caroline Arsenault
902-426-8127
Cell: 902-452-4448
cmarsena@cmhc.ca