Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says the annual pace of housing starts in June fell nine per cent compared with May.

The housing agency says the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts in June amounted to 241,672 units, down from 264,929 in May.

The move came as actual housing starts were markedly lower in two of Canada鈥檚 three major cities compared with June 2023, with Toronto down 60 per cent and Vancouver down 55 per cent.

However, Montreal housing starts rose 226 per cent in June year-over-year as multi-unit activity picked up significantly.

The actual number of housing starts in urban centres across Canada was down 13 per cent to 20,509 units in June compared with 23,518 units a year earlier. CMHC attributed the decrease to lower multi-unit starts.

The seasonally adjusted annual rate of rural starts was estimated at 18,438.

The six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rate was down 0.4 per cent at 247,205 units in June compared with 248,260 units in May.