The data, published
by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC) on Wednesday, revealed that the
seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts came in at 223,808 units in September,
up 5.1 per cent from a downwardly revised 213,012 units
(from 217,405 units) in August.
Economists had predicted
an annual pace of 237,500 for August.
According to
the report, urban starts jumped by 5.5 per cent m-o-m last month to 210,002 units,
reflecting a 5.5 per cent m-o-m surge in multiple urban starts to 163,400 units and a 5.4 per cent m-o-m climb
in single-detached urban starts to 46,602 (the highest figure in 11 months).
Meanwhile, rural starts were calculated at a
seasonally adjusted annual rate of 13,806 units, down 1.2 per cent m-o-m.