The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) reported Thursday that housing starts in Canada were trending at 219,600 units in July, compared to 218,500 in June. The trend is a moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR) of housing starts. The standalone monthly SAAR was 208,500 units in July, down from 222,100 in June.
The seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts decreased by 6.4 percent to 187,300 units in July. Urban single starts decreased by 4 percent in July to 64,300 units, while multiple urban starts decreased by 7.6 percent to 123,000 units.
July's seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts increased by 2 percent in Ontario and by 3 percent in Québec. Urban starts decreased by 29.2 percent in British Columbia, 18.4 percent in Atlantic Canada and by 8.8 percent in the Prairies. Rural starts were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 21,200 units in July.