Jan. 15, 2013, Ottawa — The seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts was 197,976 units in December 2012, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). This is down slightly from 201,376 units in November 2012.
“As expected, housing starts remained below their recent trend in Canada. The decrease recorded in December was due to a decline in rural starts, while urban starts remained stable. Housing starts were below their trends in all regions except Ontario,” said Mathieu Laberge, deputy chief economist at CMHC.
The seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts remained relatively stable in December (down 0.1 per cent), reaching 178,870 units. Single urban starts rose by 8.6 per cent to 67,419 units, while multiple urban starts fell by 4.7 per cent to 111,451 units.
December’s seasonally adjusted annual rates of urban starts decreased in the Prairies (down 23.9 per cent), Quebec (down 11.8 per cent) and British Columbia (down 8.2 per cent). Urban starts remained relatively unchanged in Atlantic Canada (down 1.6 per cent) and increased in Ontario (up 33.4 per cent).
Rural starts were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 19,106 units in December.
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