Housing starts fall in November: CMHC

OTTAWA - Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says housing starts fell in November, with drops in the numbers of both urban multiple and single-detached starts.

The agency says there were 17,153 actual starts in November, down from 18,173 in November 2012.

The monthly figure, when projected over 12 months, gives a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 192,235 in November, down from 198,161 in October.

Urban starts decreased by 3.4 per cent in November to 171,347 units on a seasonally adjusted annual rate.

Multiple urban starts fell 3.5 per cent to 111,036 units on an annual basis in November while the single-detached urban starts segment was down 3.1 per cent to 60,311 units.

In November, the seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts increased in British Columbia and the Prairies, were essentially unchanged in Quebec, and decreased in Atlantic Canada and Ontario.

"The trend in housing starts has increased slightly since July, before stabilizing in November," said Mathieu Laberge, the corporation's deputy chief economist at CMHC.

"Overall, housing starts have been following a trend similar to sales on the existing home market. As sales rise relative to listings of existing homes, buyers are increasingly meeting their needs in the new home market."