Canada Housing Starts Up 4%

Toronto, Ontario, April 10, 2006--Canadian housing starts rose 4 percent in March on robust activity in apartment construction, while single-family dwellings pulled back in the month, statistics showed on Monday. New home construction climbed to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 252,300 units from an upwardly revised 242,500 units in February, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., said. The number of starts in March beat the average expectations of analysts, who had called for 230,000 starts. February starts were previously reported at 240,900 units. Urban multiples rose 18.6 percent to an annual rate of 123,000 units last month, while urban singles fell 8.9 percent to 96,700 units. Rural starts in March were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 32,600.