The data, issued
by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC) on Tuesday, revealed that the
seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts came in at 242,195units in March,
down 6.9 per cent from a downwardly revised 260,047 units (from 253,468 units)
in February.
Economists had predicted
an annual pace of 244,000 for March.
According to
the report, urban starts plunged by 7.0 per cent m-o-m last month to 220,743 units,
reflecting a 7.8 per cent m-o-m tumble in multiple urban starts to 180,229 units
and a 3.2 per cent m-o-m decline in single-detached urban
starts to 40,514 (the lowest figure since last April).
Meanwhile, rural starts were calculated at a
seasonally adjusted annual rate of 21,452 units, down 5.7 per cent m-o-m. This marked
the lowest reading in three months.