Investing.com - Canadian housing starts fell more than expected in August, fuelling concerns over the health of the nation’s real estate sector, official data showed on Tuesday.
In a report, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation said that the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts fell to 192,400 units last month from July’s total of 199,800 units.
Analysts had expected Canadian housing starts to decline to 195,000 units in August.
“The currently elevated level of inventory of newly completed and unoccupied condominiums, and units under construction, supports CMHC’s view that condominium starts will likely see a declining trend over the coming months as developers and builders seek to limit risks of over-building,” said Bob Dugan, CMHC’s Chief Economist.
USD/CAD was trading at 1.0972 following the release of the data from around 1.0976 before.