Housing trends up in September

OTTAWA — Housing starts were trending at 197,741 units in September compared to 191,091 units in August, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp, the highest trend in housing starts since January 2013. The stand-alone monthly SAAR was 197,331 units in September, up slightly from 196,271 units in August. The inventory of completed and unabsorbed housing units per 10,000 population decreased to 4.7 in the third quarter, but is still above the historical average of 4.3.