Annual pace of housing starts picked up in November, tops expectations

OTTAWA — Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says the annual pace of housing starts in November picked up compared with October.

The seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts in Canada was 215,941 units in November, up from 206,753 in October.

Economists had expected an annual rate of 198,000, according to Thomson Reuters Eikon.

The increase in the overall annual rate of housing starts came as the pace of urban starts increased by 2.2 per cent in November to 202,054 units.

The annual rate of urban multiple-unit projects such as condominiums, apartments and townhouses grew 3.9 per cent to 151,596 units, while single-detached urban starts fell 2.3 per cent to 50,458.

Rural starts were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 13,887 units.

The Canadian Press