CMHC Microdata

Question

I have a researcher who is looking for information on rental prices that ideally comes with indicators of type of rental (one-bedroom, two-bedroom etc.) and location at the neighbourhood level. She indicates that rather than aggregates per neighbourhood (e.g. average rental price for Kitsilano in 2015), she wants the underlying data where the rental (or survey respondent as may be the case) is the unit of analysis.

I have pointed her to https://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/hoficlincl/homain/stda/stda_007.cfm Table 6 "Private Row (Townhouse) and Apartment Average Rent by Bedroom Type" but she is interested in the underlying data if its available.

Is this available--? I realize this is a CMHC survey but they have partnered with Statistics Canada in the past.

Answer

Detailed information for the data from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation can be obtained from the contact below.

Status: Active
Frequency: Monthly
Record number: 7505

The data we have from CHMS is provided to statcan:

This data is obtained from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation and is provided subject to CMHC's End-Use License Agreement.

Real estate property database

Question

Hi,
I have a question from a research about an accessible real estate property database that he thinks exist for Canada.  I have found something similar for regions of the United States but not for Canada.  Any suggestions?


Answer
It may be the Canadian Real Estate Association[CREA] databases hosted by the Conference Board of Canada.

Here are descriptions found at: http://www.conferenceboard.ca/products/economic_data.aspx

CREA I.
Starting at $365 per year for a single user.
Canadian Real Estate Association’s MLS database and reports, which contain nearly 3,000 residential housing market time series, are reliable indicators of resale housing market activity across Canada (updated monthly).

CREA II
$5875 per year
Canadian Real Estate Association’s MLS database contains 450,000 residential housing market time series at the neighbourhood level for 16 key regional markets across Canada (updated monthly).

CMHC
Starting at $3.08 per series - volume discounts are also available
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s database contains more than 4,000 time series on the Canadian housing market, such as average rents, completions by dwelling type, mortgage loan approvals (updated immediately upon release).

Open & Closed Mortgage Data

Question

A student here is looking for data on the number of open and closed mortgages issued per year for some period of time. CANSIM appears to have nothing; neither does CMHC. Any ideas?

Answer

The Income Statistics Division does not have this data in their holdings. They indicated that the data might be available through the Bank of Canada. There may also be relevant data in the CMHC's NHA loan approval system and Conventional Lending Survey.

If it isn't available there, you might want to search industry sources to see if the figures have been published there. The CMHC Library might also be able to provide some suggestions. They can be reached at (613) 748-2367 or toll-free at 1-800-668-2642 (ask for the library).

Home Ownership in Newfoundland

Question

A patron wants information on home ownership in Newfoundland, i.e. those who own their homes and those with an outstanding mortgage. She'd also like an urban-rural breakdown, if available, and with stats covering 1950 onwards. I tried the following:

1) CANSIM - found nothing.
2) CMHC materials do not cover what she's looking for. There's one multi-volume CMHC title in Microlog that she'll consult shortly.
3) A variable search in IDLS retrieved the Survey of Financial Security for 1999 and 2005. 2005 only provides a breakdown for the Atlantic region, but 1999 does cover Newfoundland. Using the DLS site from U of T, we did a cross-tabulation of home ownership by province (weighted), but this provides her with a 1999 snapshot only. It seems like she'll get bits & pieces rather than a convenient and continuous time stretch that doesn't appear to exist.
4) Census info covers "owned" and "rented", with no elaboration about "owned".
5) A colleague suggested debt statistics, but that takes me back to the Survey of Financial Security noted above in no. 3.

In terms of DLI data, is there anything I've missed?

Answer

A variable search in IDLS came up with the following files as being relevant to your user's question about mortgages. I didn't check to see that they all also have urban/rural (or size of area of residence) variables. The FAMEX and SHS series would probably be most useful.

- 1971 census - PUST individual file
- 1986 census - PUMS family file
- 1991 census - PUMS family file
- 1996 census - PUMF household file
- 1996 census - PUMF family file
- 2001 census - PUMF family file
- 2001 census - PUMF household file
- General Social Survey 1990 / 1991
- Survey of Approaches to Educational Planning 2002
- Survey of Consumer Finances, 1972: Household Income (1971), Facilities and Equipment (1972)
- Survey of Consumer Finances, 1977: Income (1976), Assets and Debts (1977), of Economic Families and Unattached Individuals
- Survey of Consumer Finances, 1984: Income (1983), Assets and Debts (1984), of Economic Families and Unattached Individuals
- Survey of Consumer Finances, 1985: Household Income (1984), Facilities and Equipment (1985)
- Survey of Consumer Finances, 1991: Household Income (1990), Facilities and Equipment (1991)
- Survey of Family Expenditures, 1969 / 1974 / 1978 / 1982 / 1984 / 1986 /1990 / 1992 / 1996
- Survey of Financial Security, 1999
- Survey of Household Spending, 1997 / 1998 / 1999 / 2000 / 2001 / 2002 / 2003 / 2004 / 2005
- Survey on Ageing and Independence: August 1991

You may also wish to consult CANSIM table 203-0019. This table is based on the Survey of Household Spending and it will provide you with estimated number of households reporting (x 1,000) and Percent of households reporting an Owned dwelling, an Owned dwelling with mortgage(s) or an Owned dwelling without mortgage. This table will give you data for Newfoundland andLabrador or St.John's from 1997 to 2005.