The national trend in housing starts increased in April, as higher-trending multi-unit starts offset a continued decline in the trend for single starts, in urban areas. The increase in the trend of multi-unit starts reflects a strong recovery in multi-unit SAAR activity in March and April from a string of declines at the end of 2018 and the first months of 2019.
The trend in housing starts was 206,103 units in April 2019, compared with 202,420 units in March 2019, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). This trend measure is a six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR) of housing starts.
The stand-alone monthly SAAR of housing starts for all areas in Canada was 235,460 units in April, up 22.6% from 191,981 units in March. The SAAR of urban starts increased by 24.0% in April to 220,387 units. Multiple urban starts increased by 29.6% to 175,732 units in April while single-detached urban starts increased by 6.0% to 44,655 units.
Rural starts were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 15,073 units.
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