Read: Building permits up 11.8%
The federal agency says the seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts fell to 175,668 in August; multiple urban starts decreased to 110,842; and single-detached urban starts segment decreased to 64,826.
The BoC may be looking for a rotation away from housing and the consumer, but low rates continue to support residential investment, says Nick Exarhos of CIBC World Markets Inc.
Read: What’s on horizon for U.S. and Canada?
“The small drop brought the 6-month moving average to 190,ooo, a trend that’s been intact since mid-2013,” he says in a release. “But despite recent resiliency, we still expect housing’s contribution to growth to slowly wane as we progress through this business cycle, with affordability concerns and a weak labour market putting pressure on the building sector going forward.”