The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition that Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says the annual pace of housing starts in June fell 9 per cent compared with May. A Canadian Press dispatch to The Glob quotes the housing agency saying that the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts in June amounted to 241,672 units, down from 264,929 in May. "The higher interest-rate environment appears to have caught up with some of Canada's major centres as lower multiunit starts, particularly in Vancouver and Toronto, drove both the [seasonally adjusted annual rate] and trend down in June," CMHC chief economist Bob Dugan said in a press release. "While strong starts growth in June and the first half 2024 in Calgary, Edmonton and Montreal mitigated some of these decreases, we expect continued downward starts pressure across Canada throughout 2024." Despite the pullback, TD Bank economist Marc Ercolao said overall starts "remain well above prepandemic levels, as builders have broken ground at elevated rates for purpose-built rental and condo units. However, we believe this tide will turn and starts will trend lower on the back of weak presale activity in key markets and elevated input costs," he said in a note.