Housing starts rose 0.4% in July to a seasonally adjusted 242,300 units, a high for the year, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said today.

Urban starts rose 2.1% to 211,600 units.

CMHC said multiple starts drove the increase.

While single starts were off 9.0%, multiple starts rose by 12.2% to 122,100 units.

CMHC said the jump in multiple starts was expected, as rising housing prices shift demand to less-expensive multi-family homes. But overall demand remains high.

“Low mortgage rates and favourable labour market conditions have boosted new home construction to its highest level of the year,” said Bob Dugan, chief economist at the corporation’s market analysis centre, in a release.

Urban housing starts rose in all regions except for Ontario in July.

Starts were up 17.1% to 32,800 units in B.C., 15.3% to 45,300 units in Quebec, 4.0% to 7,800 units in the Atlantic region and 2.5% to 36,600 units in the Prairies.

In Ontario, the rate of urban starts fell 7.9% to 89,100 units, despite the near-record activity in the Toronto market.

Rural starts in July were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 30,700 units.