OTTAWA, ON - Canadian housing starts held steady for the third straight month in May and the market appears to be headed for a "soft landing" this year, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).

Housing starts were trending at 184,438 units in May compared to 183,872 in April, a 0.3 percent increase, CMHC reported.

“In May, the trend in housing starts was virtually unchanged for the third consecutive month," said Bruno Duhamel, manager, housing and economic analysis for CMHC. "This is in line with CMHC’s analysis indicating that the new home construction market in Canada is headed for a soft landing in 2014,” d “Builders are expected to continue to manage their starts activity in order to ensure that demand from buyers seeking new units is first channeled toward unsold completed units or unsold units that are currently under construction, including condominium units.”

Only the Prairies registered a May decrease in urban housing strait activity, which represents about 90 percent of annual housing construction. Ontario was flat, while increases were recorded in Atlantic Canada, Quebec and British Columbia.

CMHC is  Canada's national housing agency. It's mission is to draw on its 65 years of experience to help Canadians access a variety of high quality, environmentally sustainable and affordable housing solutions.