U.S. - November housing starts (released December 16) slipped 18.9% to 625,000 (SAAR). Total single family starts declined 16.9% to 441,000 (SAAR), while the multi-family sector decreased to 166,000 (SAAR), a decrease of almost 27% from September. Regionally, starts contracted in all four regions: Northeast (-34.6%), Midwest (-23.1%), West (-16.8%), and South (-15.6%). Total U.S. permits declined 16% from the October rate to 616,000 million (SAAR).

Canada - November housing starts (released December 8) fell to 172,000 units, down nearly 19% from 212,000 units in October (SAAR). Canadian single and multi-family starts are grouped by urban centers and rural areas on a national basis. Canadian urban starts eased 21.6% in November, with urban multiples declining to 82,000 (-29%) units and urban single family starts falling to 63,000 (-9%). Total rural starts were unchanged at an estimated 27,200 units.

Canadian starts are also broken out by region. November urban starts contracted in all five regions: British Columbia (-35.8%), the Prairie Provinces (-12.6%) and Ontario (-30.7%), Québec (-.5%), and the Atlantic Provinces (-20.8%).