August 2011 Housing Starts

The seasonally adjusted annual rate¹ of housing starts was 184,700 units in August, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). This is down from 204,500 units in July 2011.

“Housing starts in August were in line with current demographic fundamentals and are consistent with CMHC’s recent Housing Market Outlook,” said Mathieu Laberge, Deputy Chief Economist at CMHC’s Market Analysis Centre. “Housing starts decreased in all regions, except the Prairies with the decline being more pronounced in the multiples segment.”

The seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts decreased by 10.2 per cent to 165,800 units in August. Multiple urban starts were down by 15.5 per cent to 101,400 units, while urban single starts decreased by 0.3 per cent in August to 64,400 units.

August’s seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts decreased by 41.4 per cent in the Atlantic region, by 15.3 per cent in British Columbia, by 11.8 per cent in Ontario and by 8.8 per cent in Quebec, while urban starts increased by 9.4 per cent in the Prairie region over the same time period.
CMHC