OTTAWA, CANADA - Canadian housing starts returned to earth in May, declining 13.3% but still staying well above the 200,000 unit threshold.

May housing starts in Canada clocked in at 211,400 units on a seasonally adjusted average compared to the 243,800 recorded in Apri, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC)l.

Mathieu Laberge, deputy chief economist at CMHC's Market Analysis Centre, said, “As anticipated, the pace of housing starts observed in April was not sustained in May. In fact, the pace in May was more in line with the average over the last six months. Although some ups and downs are likely to continue in the months ahead, the pace of housing starts should trend lower as the year progresses.”.

The seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts decreased by 15.8% to 189,600 units in May, with single starts dropping by 4.2% to 64,300 units and multiple starts falling by 20.7% to 125,300 units.

The urban drop-off was most pronounced in Quebec, down 35.3%, followed by Ontario, down 18.3 the Prairies down 7.7%.