Wood homes under construction
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Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says the annual pace of housing starts edged higher last month compared with October, although there were declines in five provinces.

The national housing agency says the seasonally adjusted annual rate for November was 201,318 units, up 0.3% from 200,674 units.

CMHC says the six-month moving average of monthly seasonally adjusted rates was 219,047 units, up from 218,253 units in October.

The pace of urban starts in November increased by 0.4% to 188,559 units, on a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, while the rate of rural starts was estimated at 12,759 units. Within urban areas, the rate of starts for multiple-unit dwellings was up 2.3% at 141,753 units, while the rate for single-detached units fell 5.1% to 46,806.

Ontario was one of the provinces to see the pace of starts of fall in November, dropping to 60,960 from 70,229. Other declines were seen in P.E.I., Quebec, Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

The annual pace of housing starts in British Columbia rose to 47,087 from 32,993, while the pace of starts in Alberta climbed to 25,478 from 22,862.