Housing starts fell in September to a seasonally adusted annual rate of 231,000 units from 241,100 in August, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said today.

“Housing starts across Canada remain strong and are on track with our expectations for the year,” said Bob Dugan, chief economist at CMHC’s Market Analysis Centre. “Low mortgage rates, an expanding labour market and solid consumer confidence have pushed housing activity higher in 2004.”

“Existing home sales are ahead of last year’s record setting pace and housing starts are set to reach a 17-year high. This flurry of activity will ease next year as rising mortgage carrying costs moderate housing demand.”

September housing starts in Canada’s urban centres fell 4.7% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 204,200 units due solely to a decline in the volatile multi-family sector. Urban single detached starts rose 5.9% to 106,200 in September while urban multiples decreased 14.0% to 98,000.

Urban housing starts in September decreased in three regions of Canada but rose in two. The seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts dipped 14.1% in British Columbia, 6.5% in Ontario and 1.6% in Quebec. Both the Atlantic and the Prairies bucked the trend by rising 9.2% and 2.1% respectively. The estimated number of rural starts in Canada came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 26,800 units.

For the first three quarters of this year, actual urban starts increased 7.5% compared with the same period last year. Single starts rose 5.1% while multiple starts jumped 10.1%.