The data, published by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC) on Friday,
showed that the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts came in at 212,624
units in November, down 21.9 per cent from a downwardly revised 272,264 units
(from 274,681 units) in October. This was the lowest reading
since May (201,221 units).
Economists had forecast an annual pace of 257,100 for November.
According to the report, urban starts tumbled 23.4 per cent m-o-m last
month to 195,363 units, reflecting a 27.2 per cent m-o-m plunge in multiple
urban starts to 151,297 units and a 6.9 per cent m-o-m drop in single-detached urban starts to 44,066.
Meanwhile, rural starts were calculated at a
seasonally adjusted annual rate of 17,261 units, up 0.2 per cent m-o-m.