MF Starts Buoy Canadian Mortgage Lending

Multifamily housing starts buoyed Canadian mortgage lending in August, which rose 19.6% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 278,200 units from 232,700 in July, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., Ottawa."In particular, the robust results achieved this month can be mostly attributed to increased condominium starts, which reflect strong condo sales over the past 12 to 24 months," said Bob Dugan, chief economist at CMHC. "Despite this sizable growth in September, we continue to expect that housing starts will decrease gradually between now and the end of 2008." The CMHC can be found online at http://www.cmhc.ca.