Housing starts flat in January

OTTAWA — The seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts in January was 216,210 units, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., essentially unchanged from 216,275 units in December. The SAAR of urban starts increased slightly by 0.2% in January to 198,400 units. Multiple urban starts held steady at 134,685 units in January while single-detached urban starts increased by 0.6% to 63,715 units. Rural starts were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 17,810 units.