Housing starts in Québec's urban centres were trending at 34,103 units in April, compared to 34,016 in March, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).
The trend is a six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR) of housing starts.
''The rate of housing starts recorded in April is in line with our forecasts'' said Kevin Hughes, CMHC Regional Economist for the province of Quebec. 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.
he stand-alone monthly SAAR was 33,101 units in April, up from 30,859 in March.