The number of Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation-backed multi-residential property mortgages continued to rise in the third quarter.

Total units covered by CMHC-insured mortgages jumped 18% to 51,443 from 43,457 a year earlier, the federal housing agency said in a news release. The increase was driven by new construction as 20,273 units were built.

“The increase in multi-unit residential is partially offset by a decrease in transactional homeowner unit volumes,” said CMHC.

MLS home sales dropped 14.9% year-over-year to 447,280 units, the largest decline since the mid-1990s, as the average home price fell 5.3% year-over-year to $679,553.

Federally insured multi-residential mortgage dollar volume soared 44.3% year-over-year to $10.5 billion from $7.3 billion, states the third quarter report.

CMHC’s insured multi-unit property dollar volume was down from $12.3 billion in the second quarter of 2023. The Crown corporation is Canada’s only insurer of multi-unit residential mortgages.