OTTAWA -- Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says the annual pace of housing starts in September fell compared with August.

The national housing agency says the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts last month was 251,151 units, down 4.4 per cent from 262,754 in August.

The drop came as the annual pace of urban starts fell 4.5 per cent in September to 223,055.

The annual rate of urban starts for apartments, condos and other types of multiple-unit housing projects dropped four per cent to 165,861, while the rate of single-detached urban starts fell 5.9 per cent to 57,194 units.

CMHC estimated rural starts at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 28,096 units.

The six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts was 271,068 in September, down from 284,757 in August.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 18, 2021.