December 2012 Housing Starts in London

Real Estate — January 9, 2013

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Jan. 9, 2013) - Housing starts in London, Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) were trending at 2,360 units in December, 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 1,305 units in December, down from 3,647 in November.

"While December starts slowed from their 2011 level, annual starts increased by nearly a third in 2012 over 2011. The majority of the growth in 2012 came as a result of a higher number of apartment starts," said Alexander Bonnyman, CMHC's Senior Market Analyst for London. "Overall starts through 2012 were supported by demand factors including employment growth - approximately two-thirds of which was full-time - in conjunction with growing incomes. Increased numbers of smaller households also supported apartment starts."

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, analysing 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. The multiples segment includes apartments, rows and semi-detached homes.

Total starts in December at 92 units were lower than the 136 units started a year earlier. The difference owing to higher multiple starts in December 2011. Total starts in 2012 at 2,240 were up by nearly a third over the 2011 total of 1,748. Start activity grew for all housing types although apartment starts drove increases, especially through the second and third quarter. Just over half of the apartments started in 2012 were condominiums, a recent development given that between 2000 and 2010 condominiums accounted for an average of just five percent of total annual apartment starts.

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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To view the tables and graph associated with this press release, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/CMHC0108845526.pdf

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Contact Information

Market Analysis Contact:
Alexander Bonnyman
416-250-2710
abonnyma@cmhc.ca

Media Contact:
Beth Bailey
416-218-3355
bbailey@cmhc.ca