The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp said that the total housing starts for September were recorded at 19,750, which translates into 220,200 units for the year compared to 225,300 units in August.

The CMHC said in a report that the seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts fell by 3 per cent in September to 203,731 units. The number is still higher than the forecast of 205,000 for the month. Experts say that the figure is still above the number required to meet the requirements of the growth in the household formations.

The agency said that the slowdown in condominium and apartment building construction projects in Toronto impacted the number of house starts in September. It said that a fall in urban multiples starts in Ontario in general and Toronto in particular was the main reason for the slowing of the market.

Mathieu Laberge, deputy chief economist at CMHC, said in a statement that that figfues were largely in line with the expectation for the construction market.

She said, "As expected, the number of multiples starts in Ontario, particularly in Toronto, reverted back to a level more in line with the average pace of activity over the last six months. Following a period of elevated housing starts activity due to strong volumes of multi-family unit pre-sales in 2010 and 2011, the pace of housing starts is expected to moderate."