CMHC reports annual pace of housing starts in Canada jumped higher in June

OTTAWA - Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says the annual pace of home building increased in June, boosted by a jump in multi-unit projects.

The federal housing agency says the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts increased to 248,138 units in June, up from 193,902 in May.

The increase came as the seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts climbed 29.9 per cent in June to 228,844.

Multiple urban starts increased 46.4 per cent to 172,845, while single-detached urban starts fell 3.5 per cent to 55,999 units.

Rural starts were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 19,294 units.

The six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates was 222,041 in June, up from 216,701 in May.

In a separate report, Statistics Canada said Tuesday the value of permits issued by Canadian municipalities increased 4.7 per cent to $8.2 billion in May.

The value of residential permits increased 7.7 per cent to $5.5 billion, the second-highest value on record, following the $5.7 billion worth of permits issued in October 2016.

Meanwhile, the value of non-residential building permits fell 0.7 per cent in May to $2.7 billion.