Toronto, Ontario, November 8, 2005--New home construction in Canada fell 10% in October, but remained at an elevated level amid low interest rates and high employment, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said on Tuesday.
Housing starts dropped to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 206,700 units last month, from a revised 229,600 units in September. Starts in September were previously reported higher as 230,500 units.
While October's figure was well below analysts' median expectation for 220,000 starts, new home construction has now remained above 200,000 units for 29 consecutive months.
The seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts fell 11.4% to 177,100 units in October, with decreases in both single and multiple starts.
Urban singles declined 7.9% to 88,800 units last month from September, while while urban multiples fell 14.6% to an annual rate of 88,300 units.
Rural starts in October were estimated at an annual rate of 29,600 units.
