After three months of declines, Hamilton's housing starts are trending upward again — thanks in part to a growing demand for townhouses.

Housing starts were up in February in the Hamilton census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington. There were 2,269 starts in February compared to 2,090 in January.

This follows three consecutive monthly declines, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation said Monday. The trends also show that home buyers are shifting toward less expensive townhouses more than single-detached dwellings.

"Townhouse starts continued last month's strength," said Abdul Kargbo, the corporation's senior market analyst for Hamilton and Brantford.

"Townhouse starts were up in the City of Hamilton and the Township of Grimsby. Meanwhile, single-detached starts recorded the sharpest year-over-year decline since March 2009."

The trend is calculated using a six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates of housing starts.