Housing starts in Quebec were trending at 26,124 units in May, compared to 27,165 units in April, 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.
“Reflecting a relatively weak level of activity during the first half of the year, residential housing starts in Quebec are still showing a downward trend. However, the rate in recorded in May was up substantially from that observed in April. This latest result is in line with our forecast, which calls for a rebound in activity in the second half of the year,” 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 29,448 units in May, up from 23,567 in April.