The number of housing starts was 211,300 units in September, down slightly from 216,600 units in August, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC), said today.

Economists had forecast starts to come in at 218,000, up 4,000 from August.

“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.” said Bob Dugan, chief economist at CMHC’s Market Analysis Centre, in a news release. “The lower level of housing starts in recent months is consistent with our forecast for a gradual easing in the pace of new home construction.”

The seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts decreased 2.9% to 176,900 units in September compared to the previous month. Urban multiples declined 7.0% to 81,200 units in September, while singles inched up 0.8% to 95,700 units.

Urban starts decreased by 10.8% in Quebec and by 4.3% in Ontario in September compared to August. Modest increases were recorded in British Columbia and the Prairie region where urban starts were up 1.4, and 0.5% respectively. Urban starts were up 15.3% in the Atlantic region.

Rural starts in September were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 34,400 units.

For the first nine months of 2006, total actual starts in Canada increased 1.2% compared to a year ago. The year-to-date increase in housing starts in Canada’s urban centres was slightly lower at 0.8%. Year-to-date actual urban single starts rose 2.0%, while actual urban multiple starts were down 0.3% compared to the same period in 2005.