Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says the annual pace of housing starts in August increased compared with July.

The agency says housing starts came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 223,232 units for August, up from 221,974 in July.

The increase came as the seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts increased by 0.8% in August to 207,524 units.

Multiple urban starts increased by 2.7% to 145,618, while single-detached urban starts fell 3.2% to 61,906 units.

Rural starts were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 15,708 units.

The six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates of housing starts increased to 219,447 in August compared with 217,339 in July.