Housing starts in Québec's urban centres were trending at 32,244 units in December, compared to 31,588 in November, 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.
"Since the summer of 2013, we have observed a somewhat increased rate of residential housing starts in Quebec, which is not surprising considering the sharp slowdown that occurred at the outset of 2013. We do not expect, however, to return to the pace of previous years, as it would be unsustainable given the easing on the resale market and given demographic projections," commented 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 34,237 units in December, up from 32,573 in November.