Canada Housing Starts Rise 0.6% in August from July

Canadian housing starts rose 0.6% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 223,232 units in August, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said Monday.

The result beat market expectations for housing starts to hit 215,000 in August, according to economists at Royal Bank of Canada.

August marked the eighth straight month Canadian housing starts exceeded the 200,000 level, at a time when the Canadian economy is growing at a pace leading the Group of Seven countries.

"Demand for new homes remains strong, consistent with consumer confidence which reached its highest level in 10 years," said Bob Dugan, chief economist at the Canadian housing agency.

CMHC's August report said urban housing starts rose 0.8% to 207,524 units. Multiunit urban starts, which includes condominiums, increased 2.7% to 145,618 units, while single-detached starts in urban centers fell 3.2% to 61,906.

Rural starts were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 15,708 units.

Write to Paul Vieira at Paul.vieira@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 11, 2017 09:18 ET (13:18 GMT)