February Housing Starts Climb

The standalone monthly seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of total housing starts for all areas in Canada increased 13 per cent in February (243,959 units) compared to January (216,514 units), says the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). The SAAR of total urban starts also increased, up 16 per cent to 222,663 units in February. Multi-unit urban starts increased 18 per cent to 173,745 units, while single detached urban starts increased eight per cent to 48,918 units. Rural starts were estimated at 21,296 units. The trend in housing starts was down two per cent in February over January; this trend measure is a six-month moving average of the monthly SAAR of housing starts.