Housing starts in the Kelowna census metropolitan area were trending at 881 units in November, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
The trend is a six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR) of housing starts.
The stand-alone monthly SAAR was 819 units in November, down slightly from 825 in October.
“The housing starts trend has been stable during the past few months. Both single detached and multiple-family starts have maintained a steady pace since September,” explained Paul Fabri, CMHC’s senior market analyst for Kelowna.
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, analyzing 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.
In November, actual Kelowna area starts totalled 73 homes, including 29 multiple-family units and 44 single-detached homes.
Kamloops starts matched levels recorded in November 2011.
Vernon area starts moved lower in November 2012 compared to the same month a year ago.
