According to Statistics Canada, spending on new housing construction rose 4.8 percent year-over-year to $4.8 billion in September, following a 2.9 percent gain in August.
The increase at the national level reflected higher investment in apartment and apartment-condominium building and row house construction, as spending on single-family and semi-detached dwellings continued to decline.
Spending on apartment and apartment-condominium building construction rose 26.5 percent from the same month a year earlier to $1.7 billion in September. This was the fifth consecutive double-digit increase.
Investment in row house construction also increased year over year, albeit at a slower pace, up 3.7 percent from September 2014 to $445 million.
Investment in the construction of single-family dwellings fell 5.0 percent year over year to $2.4 billion in September, marking the fourth consecutive decrease. Spending on semi-detached dwellings declined 13.2 percent from the same month a year earlier to $226 million in September.