Housing starts fall in December

OTTAWA — Housing starts dropped to 180,560 units at a seasonally adjusted annual rate in December, from 193,199 in November, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. Urban starts decreased to 162,915 in December, from 173,627 in November. The decrease was led by multiple urban starts, which decreased to 103,054 units in December from 110,766 in November, while single-detached urban starts decreased to 59,861 units from 62,861. Urban housing starts saw relatively large declines in Atlantic Canada, Quebec and the Prairies, while urban housing starts registered modest gains in Ontario and British Columbia. Rural starts were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 17,645 units.