The annual pace of housing starts in Ottawa-Gatineau fell 13 per cent in July after surging in June, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says.
The national housing agency says the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts in the National Capital Region came in at 10,619 units in July, compared with 12,159 the previous month.
While the annual pace of starts in Ottawa rose 34 per cent month-over-month to 9,227 in July, the rate of starts across the river in Gatineau plummeted 74 per cent to 1,392.
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The rate of single-detached starts took the biggest hit across the region, dropping 52 per cent to 1,271. Meanwhile, the pace of multi-unit starts such as apartments and condos fell two per cent to 9,348.
Builders started construction on 916 new housing units in Ottawa-Gatineau last month, down from 2,130 starts in June.
Single-detached starts fell 55 per cent month-over-month to 137, while multi-unit starts were down 57 per cent to 779.
The decline follows a major jump in the rate of housing starts in June, when the pace of starts nearly tripled compared with May thanks to a spike in multi-unit construction.
It mirrors a national trend that saw the annual pace of housing starts across Canada in July fall 10 per cent compared with June when they posted their strongest showing so far this year.
CMHC says the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts in July came in at 254,966 units compared with 283,498 in June.
The annual pace of urban starts was down 11 per cent in July at 234,857, while the rate of multi-unit urban starts fell 12 per cent to 193,446 and the pace of single-detached urban starts dropped four per cent to 41,411.
CMHC says the annual pace of starts in July in Vancouver fell 23 per cent, while Toronto dropped 29 per cent. Meanwhile, Montreal rose 12 per cent, Calgary gained 33 per cent and Edmonton added six per cent.
The annual rate of rural starts was estimated at 20,109 for July.
The six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts was 242,525 in July, up from 235,819 in June.
– With additional reporting from the Canadian Press
