The seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts shrunk to 211,800 units in October, down from 218,600 units in September, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. reported Monday.

“Housing starts remained strong in October and are consistent with our new home construction forecast for 2008,” said Bob Dugan, chief economist at CMHC’s Market Analysis Centre, in a news release. “The slight decrease in housing starts is the result of declines in both single-detached and multiple starts in October.”

The seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts eased 4.2% in October, compared to September. Urban multiples declined in October by 6.0% to 115,300 units. Urban single starts decreased 1.1% to 69,300 units in October compared to September.

October’s seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts moderated in three out of the five regions of Canada. Urban starts increased to 41,300 units in the Quebec region and to 9,600 units in Atlantic Canada.

On the other hand, urban starts declined to 27,900 units in British Columbia, 26,900 units in the Prairies, and 78,900 units in Ontario. Single urban starts decreased in all regions in October, with the exception of Ontario, where they increased by 10.1%.

Rural starts were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 27,200 units in October.

For the first 10 months of 2008, actual starts in rural and urban areas combined were down an estimated 1.6%, compared to the same period last year. Year-to-date actual starts in urban areas have decreased by an estimated 1.3% over the same period in 2007. Actual urban single starts for the January to October period of this year were 16.3% lower than they were a year earlier while urban multiple starts were up by 11.6% over the same period.