The Canadian Press

OTTAWA — Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says the annual pace of housing starts increased in October.

The national housing agency says the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts rose to 214,875 units last month compared with 208,715 in September. 

Economists surveyed by financial data firm Refinitiv had on average expected an annual rate of 222,000.

The overall increase came as the annual rate of urban starts rose 3.5 per cent in October to 202,584 units. The pace of urban starts of apartments, condos and other types of multiple−unit housing projects edged down 0.2 per cent to 144,796, while urban starts of single−detached homes rose by 14.3 per cent to 57,788.

Rural starts were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 12,291 units.

The six−month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates of housing starts was 222,734 in October, up from 214,372 in September.

(C) 2020 The Canadian Press