Canadian housing starts jump 18% in December -CMHC

TORONTO (Reuters) – Canadian housing starts rose 18% in December compared with the previous month as groundbreaking increased on multiple unit urban homes, data from the national housing agency showed on Tuesday.

The seasonally adjusted annualized rate of housing starts rose to 249,255 units from a revised 210,918 units in November, the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) said. Economists had expected starts to rise to 243,000.

Starts were down 7% in 2023 compared to the previous year in centres with a population of 10,000 and over, primarily due to a 25% decline in single-detached starts.

(Reporting by Fergal Smith; editing by Jason Neely)