CMHC says annual pace of housing starts in Canada slowed in April

Photo: The Canadian Press

New homes are built in a housing development in the west end of Ottawa on Thursday, May 6, 2021.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says the annual pace of housing starts fell nearly 20 per cent in April as the pace of multiple-unit housing projects slowed.

The housing agency says the annual pace of starts for April was 268,631 units, down from 334,759 units in March.

CMHC says the annual pace of urban starts fell 16.9 per cent in April to 251,504 units as the pace of starts of apartments, condos and other types of multiple-unit housing projects dropped 22.8 per cent to 251,504 units.

The annual rate of single-detached urban starts edged down 0.1 per cent to 78,918.

Rural starts were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 17,127 units.

The six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts was 279,055 units in April, up from 272,164 in March.