Housing falls 7% in March from February: CMHC

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. In March, the annual rate of housing starts fell seven percent compared to February.

The National Housing Agency reported that the annual rate of seasonally adjusted housing starts was 242,195 units in March, compared with 260,047 in February.

On a year-over-year basis, real housing starts in March were up 10 per cent in Toronto and 15 per cent in Vancouver, as the number of apartment units increased.

Montreal's actual starts are down one percent, while lower multi-block starts are dragging down.

The annual rate of rural beginnings was estimated at 21,452 units.

The six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts in March fell 1.6 percent to 243,957 from 247,971 in February.