According to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), the trend measure of housing starts in Canada was 189,837 units in August compared to 189,596 in July. The trend is a six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR) of housing starts.
Bob Dugan, CMHC’s Chief Economist says this of the report:
“The currently elevated level of inventory of newly completed and unoccupied condominiums, and units under construction, supports CMHC’s view that condominium starts will likely see a declining trend over the coming months as developers and builders seek to limit risks of over-building. However, there may still be some variability from month to month as the number of pre-sales for some planned condominium projects reaches sufficient levels to trigger project start.”
The trend measure is used by CMHC as a complement to the monthly SAAR of housing starts to account for considerable swings in monthly estimates, and to obtain a more complete picture of the state of the housing market.
