Housing starts down in April from March, up for Q1 over last year

Vancouver, British Columbia May 3, 2008 — The seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts dropped to 213,900 units in April from 243,000 in March.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., attributed most of the decrease to a drop in multiple starts after near-record highs in March and February. For the first four months of 2008, actual starts in rural and urban areas combined were up about 3.3 per cent compared to the same period last year.

The seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts edged down by 16.3 per cent in April to 185,400 units compared to March.

Rural starts were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 28,500 units in April.

Urban multiples were also down to 113,900 in April from 141,000 in March, while singles decreased 11.3 per cent to 71,500 units.

Urban starts fell in all regions of Canada, except British Columbia, where they rose 17.1 per cent to 34,900.

They dropped to 7,500 units in Atlantic Canada, 37,600 units in Quebec, 73,000 units in Ontario, and 32,400 units in the Prairies.

Actual starts in urban areas to date have increased by an estimated 9.6 per cent over the same period in 2007.

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