The trend measure of housing starts in Canada was 182,137 units in February compared to 188,761 in January, 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 trend in housing starts decreased for a fifth consecutive month in February and reflects a decreasing trend in multiple starts,” said Bob Dugan, Chief Economist at CMHC’s Market Analysis Centre. “The declining trend in multiple starts is helping to gradually erode the inventory of completed and unsold units, which is high compared to historical levels.”

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 Canada’s housing market. In some situations analyzing only SAAR data can be misleading, as they are largely driven by the multi-unit segment of the market which can vary significantly from one month to the next.

The standalone monthly SAAR was 156,276 units in February, down from 187,025 units in January. The SAAR of urban starts decreased to 140,722 in February, from 171,950 in January. The decrease in February reflects broad based declines in eight of the ten provinces. The decrease was led by multiple urban starts, which reached 86,214 units in February down from 115,123 in January. Single-detached urban starts decreased to 54,508 units in February from 56,827 the previous month.

Rural starts2 were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 15,554 units.