Canada’s annual pace of housing starts fell seven per cent in March.
The seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts came in at 242,195 units.
That was compared to 260,047 units in February, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
Figures provided by the corporation show the annual rate of urban starts fell seven per cent to 220,743.
Multi-unit urban starts decreased eight per cent to 180,229 units, while single-detached urban starts were down four per cent to 40,514 units.
The annual rate of rural starts was estimated to be around 21,452 units, according to the corporation.
Meanwhile, the six-month trend in housing starts saw a slight 1.6 per cent decrease, from 247,971 units in February to 243,957 units in March.
March’s actual number of housing starts in urban centres was up 16 per cent to 17,052 units. The year-over-year increase was driven by a 19 per cent increase in multi-unit starts and a two per cent increase in single-detached starts.
