The who, why and how of the Online Trend Chart …
A webspace for the sharing of comments and analyses relating
to Montréal’s economy.
Interactive graphs depicting the progress made in Montreal, Quebec,
and Canada since 1996 as measured by a series of indicators.
Instant access to the latest data on Montreal’s leading
indicators.
How Montreal fares against its Canadian and U.S. competitors. This
section is reserved for Board of Trade members only.
Recommended reading: studies, research projects and discussion
papers with summaries and background information. All to help you
keep a pulse on the Montreal economy.
Housing starts
Make a comment on this indicator
Methodology
The number of housing starts
is an important indicator providing information about not only the
construction and real estate markets but also general economic
conditions. Housing starts are based on the total number of housing
units; a single-family home thus counts as one unit while, in the
case of multi-purpose buildings, only the number of units destined
for residential use will be taken into account.
In addition to signalling an upturn in activity, an increase in
housing starts often corresponds to an increase in consumer
purchasing power and a decrease in mortgage rates.
This data is provided quarterly by the Conference Board of Canada
in annualized form. Annualizing quarterly data (multiplying it by
four) makes it possible to compare quarterly performance with the
annual result.
This data is also deseasonalized, eliminating the impact of
seasonal variations and making it possible to compare data
throughout the year.
