Housing starts in Quebec were trending at 36,511 units in October, compared to 35,327 units in September, 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 slight upward trend recorded in October was attributable to the rental housing segment. These results are 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 31,611 units in October, down from 44,781 in September. The significant variation in the annual rate was due to the multiple-unit housing segment, where notable fluctuations are often observed from one month to the next.