Ottawa Housing Starts Dip In September

New housing construction dropped by 13 % in Ottawa last month as building of townhomes, condominiums and other multiple-housing projects, which had been the engine of the market, declined.

The decline in housing starts is attributable to a decline in multiple starts, which reached their lowest level since July 2004. For a second consecutive month, single-detached starts edged higher.

The seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts decreased 2.9 % in September compared to the previous month.

Urban starts decreased by 10.8 % in Quebec and by 4.3 % in Ontario in September compared to August.

For the first nine months of 2006, total actual starts in Canada increased 1.2 % compared to a year ago.