Canadian housing starts fell 7% in March, says a new Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation report.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, total housing starts declined to 242,195 units in March from 260,047 in February, according to the federal housing agency.

But on an actual basis, housing starts increased 16% year-over-year to 17,052 units from 14,756 units. Multi-unit residential building starts jumped 19%, while single-detached home starts were up just 2%.

Vancouver and Toronto drove the actual increases as their starts rose 15% and 10%, respectively, year-over-year, due to higher multi-unit development starts. Single-family detached home starts declined in both Vancouver and Toronto.

Montreal’s actual starts dipped 1% year-over-year due to lower multi-unit project starts.

The figures come after CMHC forecasted that Canadian housing starts will decline in 2024 due to a reduction in rental residential construction projects. The forecast was published in CMHC’s latest Housing Market Outlook (HMO).