The data, published
by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC) on Friday, showed that the
seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts came in at 253,468 units in February,
up 13.6 per cent from a downwardly revised 223,176 units (from 223,589 units)
in January. This marked the highest reading since October 2023 (271,955 units).
Economists had expected
an annual pace of 230,000 for February.
According to
the report, urban starts climbed 15.0 per cent m-o-m last month to 238,633 units,
reflecting a 19.6 per cent m-o-m soar in multiple urban starts to 196,392 units
(the highest figure in four months) that was partly offset by a 2.3 per cent m-o-m drop in single-detached urban
starts to 42,241 (the lowest number in six months).
Meanwhile,
rural starts were calculated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 14,835 units,
down 5.4 per cent m-o-m.