THUNDER BAY – Cold weather hit the constructions market in Thunder Bay in February.
Housing starts in Thunder Bay, Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) were trending at 255 units in February down from 303 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)(1) of housing starts.
“Seasonally adjusted housing starts in Thunder Bay saw a significant decline in February. Although demand for housing continues to be healthy, it is not uncommon to see a decrease in starts activity in the region during some cold winter months. Since 1980, Thunder Bay has seen ten Februarys without new construction, keeping the 10-year average for the month at 1.6 units,” stated Warren Philp, CMHC’s Market Analyst for Thunder Bay.
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, analysing 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 standalone monthly SAAR was 9 units in February, down from 131 units in January.
