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AUGUST 2014 HOUSING STARTS IN QUEBEC

AUGUST 2014 HOUSING STARTS IN QUEBEC

Housing  starts in Québec's urban centres  were trending at 32,628 units in  August,  compared to  35,401  in  July,  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.

''During the first eight months of the year, housing starts have evolved according to  expectations. Apart from a few months where the rate jumped up as a result of certain large projects in downtown Montréal, the pace has remained relatively stable and comparable to that observed in 2013. It is important to note that  this  current  rate  is  well  below  that  recorded  in  2011  and  2012.  Moreover,  this  slowdown  has occured in the two main market segments: on the single-detached side, the drop is attributable to rising supply  of  resale  homes  and  slow  employment  growth.  In  the  case  of  multi-unit  starts,  they  have decreased as a result of the growing stock of newly completed and unoccupied apartments'' 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.

The stand-alone monthly SAAR was 31,311 units in August, down from 31,810 in July.

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Québec Landlords Association

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