"Housing starts trended up in September mainly due to a strengthening in rental apartment starts. There is renewed growth in rental product as the rental stock is aging".
- Anne-Marie Shaker, CMHC
Canadian housing starts rose more than expected last month, official figures from the national housing agency revealed on Tuesday. According to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, housing starts in Canada increased to a monthly seasonally adjusted annual rate of 220,617 in September, compared to the preceding month's upwardly revised figure of 184,210, while market analysts anticipated a rise to 190,000 during the reported period. The pace of urban housing starts advanced 19.7% last month to 201,848 units, while multiple urban starts grew 22.3% and single-detached urban housing starts rose 14.5% to 137,803 and 64,045 units, respectively. Regionally, a monthly seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts rose in Quebec, British Columbia, the Prairies, and in Atlantic Canada, while dropped in Ontario. Meanwhile, rural housing starts came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 18,769 in the ninth month of the year.
After the release, the Canadian Dollar rose slightly against other major currencies, trading at 1.3224 against its US counterpart, 1.4653 against the Euro, 0.9980 against the Aussie and 78.42 against the Japanese Yen.
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