Investing.com - Canadian housing starts rose unexpectedly in June, easing concerns over the health of the nation’s real estate sector, official data showed on Wednesday.
In a report, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation said that the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts rose to 198,200 units last month from May’s total of 197,000 units.
Analysts had expected Canadian housing starts to decline to 189,000 units in June.
“This is in line with CMHC’s analysis indicating that the new home construction market in Canada is headed for a soft landing in 2014,” said Bob Dugan, CMHC’s Chief Economist.
Following the release of the data, the Canadian dollar was higher against its U.S. counterpart, with USD/CAD shedding 0.15% to trade at 1.0662.