The trend measure of housing starts in Canada was 183,959 units in June compared to 179,908 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) of housing starts.

“The trend in housing starts increased this month as multiple starts trended upward, offsetting a downward trend in single-detached home starts,” said Bob Dugan, CMHC’s Chief Economist. “The rise in the trend of multiple starts reflects a 53% increase in seasonally adjusted multiple starts from February to June 2015. Seasonally adjusted multiple starts are at their highest level since September 2012, but are expected to moderate over the coming months.”

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 Canada’s housing market. In some situations analyzing only SAAR data can be misleading, as they are largely driven by the multi-unit segment of the market which can vary significantly from one month to the next.

The standalone monthly SAAR was 202,818 units in June, up from 196,981 units in May. The SAAR of urban starts increased by 3.2 per cent in June to 188,720 units. Multi-unit urban starts increased by 3.7 per cent to 130,933 units in June, while the singledetached urban starts segment increased by 2.0 per cent to 57,787 units.

In June, the seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts increased in British Columbia, Québec, the Prairies and Atlantic Canada, while it decreased in Ontario. Rural starts were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of
14,098 units.