THUNDER BAY – BUSINESS – “The increasing trend in seasonally adjusted starts in Thunder Bay is still significantly below last year at this time and 2012 for that matter. Lagging Thunder Bay employment growth and increased listings in the resale market have combined to slow the new construction market in the year-to-date,” stated Warren Philp, CMHC’s Market Analyst for Thunder Bay.
Housing starts in Thunder Bay, Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) were trending at 122 units in June up slightly from 116 units in May 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.
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 201 units in June up from 162 in May.