OTTAWA -- Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says the annual pace of housing starts in February slowed compared with January.

The housing agency says the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts for February fell to 245,922 units compared with 284,372 in January.

The drop came as the annual pace of urban starts fell 14 per cent in February to 231,042 units as the pace of starts of apartments, condos and other types of multiple-unit housing projects fell 15.8 per cent to 163,757.

The annual pace of urban starts of single-detached homes fell 9.3 per cent to 67,285.

CMHC estimates the annual pace of rural starts at 14,880 units.

The six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates of housing starts was 242,777 in February, down from 244,963 in January.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 15, 2021