THUNDER BAY – REAL ESTATE – Warm weather in October is likely one of the factors that boosted housing starts in Thunder Bay through October. Housing starts in Thunder Bay Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) were trending at 223 units in October, up from 195 units in September 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 up slightly from a relatively low base, driven by an increase in the single starts trend. Flat employment conditions and a balanced resale market have hampered housing starts so far this year 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 169 units in October down from 217 units in September due to weaker multis starts.
Preliminary Housing Starts data is also available in English and French at the following link:
Preliminary Housing Starts Tables
