The data, issued
by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC) on Tuesday, revealed that the
seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts came in at 249,255 units
in December, up 18.2 per cent from a downwardly revised 210,918 units (from 212,624
units) in November.
Economists had predicted
an annual pace of 243,000 for December.
According to
the report, urban starts surged 20.0 per cent m-o-m last month to 234,705 units,
reflecting a 26.3 per cent m-o-m soar in multiple urban starts to 191,463 units that was partly offset by a 1.8 per cent
m-o-m fall in single-detached urban starts to 43,242.
Meanwhile, rural starts were calculated at a
seasonally adjusted annual rate of 14,550 units, down 5.1 per cent m-o-m.