Housing starts in Quebec were trending at 30,275 units in February, compared to 31,284 units 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) of housing starts.
“The lower pace of housing starts in February is observable in both single detached and multi-family home categories,” said Kevin Hughes, CMHC’s Senior Economist for 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 23,815 units in February, down from 26,498 in January. “The slower pace is partly attributable to the exceptionally low temperatures recorded during this month,” added Kevin Hughes.