The seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts was 217,600 units in September, up slightly from 217,400 units in August, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp reported today.

“Housing starts remained at a high level in September, with construction activity again staying above the 200,000 unit threshold,” says Bob Dugan, chief economist at CMHC’s Market Analysis Centre. “Higher starts of multiple family homes were behind the rise in new home construction activity in September.”

The seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts rose 0.1% in September, compared to August. Urban multiples rose in September by 5.5% to 122,500 units. Urban single starts decreased 8.1% to 70,000 units in September compared to August.

September’s seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts went up or remained unchanged in all regions of Canada, except Ontario, where housing starts decreased by 6.6% to 80,900 units. Urban starts increased to 9,500 units in Atlantic Canada, 29,000 units in the Prairies, and 33,600 units in British Columbia. In the Quebec region, starts remained stable at 39,500 units. Multiple urban starts increased in all regions in September, with the exception of Ontario, where they decreased by 1.9%.

Rural starts were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 25,100 units in September.

For the first nine months of 2008, actual starts in rural and urban areas combined were down an estimated 5.7%, compared to the same period last year.

Year-to-date actual starts in urban areas have decreased by an estimated 0.8% over the same period in 2007. Actual urban single starts for the January to September period of this year were 15.6% lower than they were a year earlier, while urban multiple starts were up by 12.2% over the same period.