TORONTO Canadian housing starts fell 1% in August compared with the previous month as groundbreaking decreased on multiple-unit projects, data from the national housing agency showed on Monday.

The seasonally adjusted annualized rate of housing starts fell to 252,787 units from a revised 255,232 units in July, the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) said. Economists had expected starts to fall to 247,100.

(Reporting by Fergal Smith, Editing by Louise Heavens)