Housing starts in Canada were trending at 190,492 units in September compared to 188,440 in August, according to a report released by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) on Tuesday. The trend is a six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR)1 of housing starts.
"The trend in total housing starts edged up slightly in September, while remaining close to the range of roughly 182,000 to 188,000 units that was observed between March and August of 2013. This recent moderate gain is consistent with sales of existing homes, which have trended higher since February 2013. The trend in the new home market typically lags the trend in the existing home market", said Mathieu Laberge, Deputy Chief Economist at CMHC.
The standalone monthly SAAR was 193,637 units in September, an increase from 183,964 in August. The SAAR of urban starts increased by 4.3 percent in September to 177,240 units. Multiple urban starts increased by 5.9 percent to 113,705 units in September while the single urban starts segment saw an increase of 1.4 percent to 63,535 units.