Canada housing starts rise

OTTAWA -- New home construction rose by a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 157,300 units in October, up from 149,300 in the previous month, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. Economists had expected housing starts to increase by between 155,000 and 158,800 units during the month. "The improvement in housing starts in October is attributable to improvement in the multiple starts segment," Bob Dugan, CMHC's chief economist, said Monday. "Despite a small decline in single home starts in October, the level of single home starts remains at its second highest level since October 2008." Urban housing starts rose 5.2% on an adjusted annual basis to 139,900 units last month, with multiple-unit construction jumping 13.8% to 72,600 units. However , urban single-unit starts fell 2.7% to 67,300 units in October. Overall, urban starts rose by an annual rate of 15% in British Columbia, while they were up 14.8% in Ontario, 6.5% in the Prairies and 1.2% in the Atlantic region. Meanwhile, Quebec saw urban starts fall 11.6%. Rural starts increased to 17,400 units in October, up from 16,300 the previous month. Canwest News Service