Housing starts in Canada were trending at 187,197 units in August compared to 187,324 in July, according to the 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 standalone monthly SAAR was 180,291 units in August, down from 193,021 in July. The SAAR of urban starts decreased by 5.8 percent in August to 163,102 units, mostly reflecting a decline in the multiple starts segments in August. Multiple urban starts decreased by 8.4 percent to 104,704 units in August, while the single urban starts segment registered a slight decline of 0.9 percent to 58,398 units.
In August, the seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts increased in Ontario, held steady in Atlantic Canada while decreasing in all other regions, including the Prairies, British Columbia and Quebec.
Rural starts were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 17,189 units.