Housing starts rose in October, despite a drop in the pace of construction of single-family homes, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said today.

The overall annualized rate of housing starts came in at 223,200 units in October, up from 209,000 units in September, CMHC said. That was slightly above the consensus estimate of 215,000 starts.

“The rise in housing starts in October reflects a rebound in the volatile multiple starts segment, which registered a two-year low in September,” said Bob Dugan, chief economist at CMHC’s market analysis centre. “Single starts, the bellwether component of the new home market, fell to their second lowest level of the year.”

Multiple starts are multi-unit buildings such as condominiums.

“Despite the increase in October, the pace of housing starts has been slower since August compared to the first half of 2006. This is consistent with our view that residential construction will decrease gradually between now and the end of 2007,” Dugan said.

The seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts increased 8.3% to 191,700 units in October compared to September, CHMC said. Urban multiples rose 23% to 99,900 units in October, while singles decreased 4.2% to 91,800 units.