The seasonally adjusted annual rate¹ of housing starts reached 186,300 units in January 2010. This is an increase from an annual rate of 176,100 units in December 2009, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). According to final figures, actual housing starts for 2009 totalled 149,081 units, with activity improving as the year progressed.

“Housing starts improved in both the singles and multiples segments in January,” said Bob Dugan, Chief Economist at CMHC’s Market Analysis Centre. “These increases are similar to the ones that occurred in December.”

The seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts increased by 4.4 per cent to 165,200 units in January. Urban multiple starts increased by 5.7 per cent to 76,300 units while single urban starts increased by 3.3 per cent to 88,900 units.

January’s seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts increased by 19.8 per cent in British Columbia, by 7.3 per cent in Quebec, by 2.3 per cent in Atlantic Canada, and by 1.5 per cent in the Ontario. In the Prairie region, the seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts decreased by 4.8 per cent.

Rural starts were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 21,100 units in January².

Meanwhile, Statistics Canada said Monday the value of building permits fell in November by 4.6% from the previous month to $5.9-billion. Still, that was 23.1% higher than November 2008 and 62.8% higher than February 2009, “when the lowest value during the economic downturn was recorded,” the federal agency said.

“However, November’s value remained below values recorded in 2007 and early 2008.”

The decline was due to a drop in the non-residential sector, which offset increases in the residential sector, the agency said.

For more information, call 1-800-668-2642.

¹ All starts figures in this release, other than actual starts, are seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR) — that is, monthly figures adjusted to remove normal seasonal variation and multiplied by 12 to reflect annual levels.

² CMHC estimates the level of rural starts for each of the three months of the quarter, at the beginning of each quarter. During the last month of the quarter, CMHC conducts the survey in rural areas and revises the estimate.

Information on this release:

Charles Sauriol CMHC Media Relations 613-748-2799 csauriol@cmhc-schl.gc.ca

For regional starts information contact:
	Prairie provinces: Lai Sing Louie CMHC 403-515-2991 llouie@cmhc-schl.gc.ca

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