Canadian housing starts rose much more sharply than expected in March as groundbreaking on new condominiums and apartments in urban areas surged 48.2 per cent, while February numbers were revised slightly lower, data showed on Friday.
The report from the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corp showed the seasonally adjusted annualized rate of housing starts rose to 189,708 units last month from a downwardly revised 151,238 units in February.
Housing Starts, Canada
The six-month trend of Canadian housing starts showed 179,016 units in March compared to 180,236 in February, essentially unchanged, said CMHC.
Urban starts led the March increase, up 28.1 per cent. Construction of multiple-family units – typically condos – rose 48.2 per cent to 125,263 units, while single-detached urban starts decreased 3.4 per cent to 52,196 units.
Starts increased in Ontario, British Columbia, Quebec and the Prairies, while decreasing in Atlantic Canada.