CMHC photo

Housing starts in Ontario jumped in April from a year earlier, but elsewhere in the country housing construction activity fell year-over-year due to a fairly sharp decline in single-detached starts, according to the latest data from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.

Actual, unadjusted starts in Ontario's urban centres rose 29.8 per cent to 6,382 units, although on a month-over-month basis, construction activity declined in the province to a seasonally adjusted 73,000 units, from 77,200 in March.

Across Canada, unadjusted starts declined by 4.5 per cent to 19,053 units from a year earlier, and seasonally adjusted starts fell by 12 per cent to 213,900 units.

"Housing starts in April moderated from the high levels posted in February and March," said CMHC chief economist Bob Dugan in a statement. "Most of the decrease reflected a drop in multiple starts, which in March and February had reached their second- and third-highest levels since March of 1978, respectively."

Multiple starts in urban centres across Canada declined to a seasonally adjusted 113,900 units in April from 141,000 units a month earlier, while the number of single-family homes started fell 11.3 per cent to 71,500 units.

Urban single-detached starts also declined on a year-over-year basis to 6,345 units, down 22.9 per cent. However, unadjusted multiple-housing starts rose to 10,089 units from 8,799 units a year earlier.

Construction activity was mixed across the various regions, with year-over-year declines recorded in Quebec and the Prairies, while the Atlantic region and British Columbia joined Ontario in posting increases in housing starts.

On a month-over-basis, the seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts went down in all regions of Canada except British Columbia, which saw an increase of 17.1 per cent to 34,900 in April.