The trend measure for housing starts fell to 196,783 in March compared to 201,618 in February.
“Overall, starts were trending lower in March due to a slowdown in multi-unit construction,” said Bob Dugan, CMHC Chief Economist. “This was the case across the country, except in British Columbia where declining inventories of new and unsold units as well as low levels of new listings in the resale market spurred builders to start new projects.”
The seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR) fell by 7% to 185,022 units in urban markets, according to CMHC.
“Multiple urban starts decreased by 9.7 per cent to 123,207 units in March and the single-detached urban starts decreased by 1.1 per cent to 61,815 units,” CMHC said.
SAAR decreased in British Columbia, Quebec, Atlantic Canada, and the prairies. It increased in Ontario.
Thank you Canadian Real Estate Wealth for your insight. April 8,2016