Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says the annual pace of housing starts in March declined seven per cent compared with February.
The national housing agency says the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts amounted to 242,195 units in March compared with 260,047 in February.
When looking at year-over-year figures, March’s actual housing starts were 10 per cent higher in Toronto and 15 per cent higher in Vancouver because of an increase in multi-unit starts.
Montreal’s actual starts dipped one per cent, dragged down by lower multi-unit starts.
The annual rate of rural starts was estimated at 21,452 units.
The six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates of housing starts in March was 243,957, down 1.6 per cent from 247,971 in February.