Flat Employment Principal Cause for Sluggish Year

THUNDER BAY – REAL ESTATE – Housing starts in Thunder Bay Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) were trending at 144 units in July, down from 167 units in June 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 latest data shows that housing starts activity trended down slightly due to tepid apartment starts and below average singles starts. Flat employment conditions are the principal reason for an unspectacular year for housing starts thus far in Thunder Bay,” concluded Warren Philp, CMHC Market Analyst for the Thunder Bay CMA.

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 183 units in July down from 288 units in June due to weaker single-detached and apartment starts.