St. John's Area November Housing Starts

ST. JOHN'S , Dec. 8 /CNW/ - Urban housing starts held steady during the month of November, according to preliminary data(1) released today by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). November's housing starts totaled 176 throughout the St. John's area versus 173 starts in November of 2008. An additional 12 starts were recorded in other urban areas across the province, for a total of 188 provincial starts compared to 196 the previous November.

" St. John's area housing starts held steady relative to last November, posting a small increase of two per cent, with year-to-date starts off ten per cent compared to 2008's accelerated pace," said Chris Janes , senior market analyst with CMHC in Newfoundland and Labrador. "Employment, income and population growth continues to support residential construction activity throughout the St. John's region," added Janes.

For Canada's urban centres, total housing starts were flat with 13,507 recorded in November compared to 13,500 during November of 2008. Single-detached starts increased 15 per cent to 6,671, while multiple starts of 6,836 represent an 11 per cent decline from a year ago. Throughout Atlantic Canada , there were 641 urban housing starts posted versus 734 the previous November, a decline of 13 per cent.

As Canada's national housing agency, CMHC draws on more than 60 years of experience to help Canadians access a variety of quality, environmentally sustainable and affordable homes. CMHC also provides reliable, impartial and up-to-date housing market reports, analysis and knowledge to support and assist consumers and the housing industry in making vital decisions.

    
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    (1) Figures for the most recent month are preliminary and subject to
        revisions due to corrections or updates from quarterly enumeration or
        sampling results.


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                   PRELIMINARY URBAN MONTHLY HOUSING STARTS
                       NEWFOUNDLAND & LABRADOR SUMMARY
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                     2009    2008                  YEAR-TO-DATE
                    --------------  % Change    -----------------  % Change
                      NOV     NOV                 2009      2008
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           ALL URBAN CENTRES WITH POPULATIONS GREATER THAN 50,000
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    ST. JOHN'S CMA
    Single            128     141      -9.2%     1,257     1,335      -5.8%
    Multiple           48      32      50.0%       245       326     -24.8%
    TOTAL             176     173       1.7%     1,502     1,661      -9.6%
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            ALL URBAN CENTRES WITH POPULATION GREATER THAN 10,000
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    ALL CENTRES*
    Single            138     164     -15.9%     1,486     1,607      -7.5%
    Multiple           50      32      56.3%       299       396     -24.5%
    TOTAL             188     196      -4.1%     1,785     2,003     -10.9%
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    Figures for the most recent month are preliminary and subject to
    revisions due to corrections or updates from quarterly enumeration or
    sampling results.

    *  Includes all centres with a total population of more than 10,000
         (St. John's CMA, Corner Brook CA, Gander CA, Grand Falls/Windsor CA
         and Bay Roberts CA)
    (XX) Indicates changes in excess of 100% which are not reported due to
         volatility resulting from small absolute numbers.
    

For further information: on this release: Chris Janes, Senior Market Analyst - NL, CMHC Market Analysis Centre, [phone], Cell: [phone], [email protected]; visit www.cmhc.ca or call 1-800-668-2642