The pace of Canadian housing starts slowed in January with a steep drop in multiple-unit homes, an indication builders are adjusting to a slowdown in buyers, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) Monday.
The agency estimates there were 11,737 actual housing starts in January and that is extrapolated to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 180,248, down from 187,144 in December.
Housing Starts, Canada
Canada’s overall urban starts decreased by 2.7 per cent in January to 163,158 units on an adjusted annual basis, with stronger starts in the Prairies and Ontario offset by declines in Atlantic Canada, Quebec and British Columbia, said CMHC Monday.
Multiple urban starts fell by six per cent to a seasonally adjusted 102,289 units in January, while there was a 3.4 per cent increase in single-detached urban starts to 60,869 units on the same seasonally adjusted basis.