OTTAWA, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Canadian housing starts rose unexpectedly in August as a surge in construction of multiple unit buildings, typically condos, offset a decline in starts of single detached homes, data from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation showed on Monday.
The seasonally adjusted annual rate of starts rose to 223,232 in August from July's upwardly revised 221,974. Economists had expected a decline to a 212,000 annual rate.