Annual pace of housing starts posts 21.6% increase in March

Photo: The Canadian Press

The annual pace of housing starts in Canada soared higher in March as it climbed 21.6 per cent compared with February.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts rose to 335,200 units, up from 275,567 in February.

The annual pace of urban starts rose 24.4 per cent in the month to 300,973 as the pace of starts of apartments, condos and other types of multiple-unit housing projects climbed 33.8 per cent to 222,358 units.

The annual rate of single-detached urban starts rose 3.6 per cent to 78,615.

Rural starts were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 34,227 units.

CMHC says the six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates was 273,664 in March, up from 252,636 in February.