AI Analysis: Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, absorptions and unabsorbed inventory, newly completed dwellings, by type of dwelling unit in census agglomerations of 50,000 and over

Executive Summary

Statistics Canada's Table 34100150 tracks nearly 38 years of monthly housing absorption and unabsorbed inventory data across 38 Canadian census agglomerations, revealing a strongly right-skewed market where a few large cities dominate volume — the median monthly unit count is just 10 despite a mean of 34.84. On a national aggregate basis, average monthly absorptions (731 units) are slightly outpaced by unabsorbed inventory (834 units), suggesting supply has consistently kept pace with or modestly exceeded demand across the full 1988–2026 period. Distribution and outlier analyses confirm that market activity is highly uneven across regions and dwelling types, with significant volatility spikes likely tied to major economic events such as the 2008 financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Key Findings

• The dataset covers 453 monthly observations from June 1988 to February 2026 across 38 geographic regions, totalling 75,018 records with values ranging from 0 to 1,661 units.
• The overall distribution is strongly right-skewed: the median is just 10 units versus a mean of 34.84, with the interquartile range spanning only 2 to 26 units, confirming that most smaller census agglomerations report very low monthly volumes.
• On a national aggregate basis, average monthly unabsorbed inventory (834 units) slightly exceeds average monthly absorptions (731 units), indicating that newly completed supply has marginally outpaced absorption over the long term.
• Single detached units are the dominant dwelling type, averaging 43.89 units with the widest spread (standard deviation of 125.36, max of 1,512), meaning total unit metrics are heavily influenced by this category.
• Semi-detached units are the least active category by far, averaging just 8.36 units per month with 75% of observations at or below 6 units, compared to 32 for single detached and 39 for total units.
• Outlier detection using Z-scores (threshold: ±2 standard deviations) identified anomalous spikes in Canada-wide totals, with the most likely culprits being the early 1990s recession, the 2008 financial crisis, and COVID-19-era disruptions after 2020.
• Regional volatility varies considerably across census agglomerations, with smaller markets exhibiting much higher coefficients of variation than larger ones, pointing to pronounced boom-bust cycles in local housing completions and absorption.