Housing starts in Quebec were trending at 35,486 units in September, compared to 32,477 units in August, 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.
“In Quebec, the upward trend accelerated as a result of a significant increase in the number of apartment starts in September. 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 Regional 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 45,291 units in September, up from 35,803 in August.