Edmonton housing starts fall almost 75 per cent

vista

EDMONTON — The number of housing starts in the Edmonton region for November tumbled 74 per cent from the same time last year, said the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

& F& f5 Z/ T# t, DConstruction began on only 279 homes during the month, according to preliminary figures released today.
$ \3 y( B* h$ P& R0 A
For the year to date, housing activity has fallen by 56 per cent compared to the first 11 months last year.
4 K0 Y" ?$ k. X6 t) T
“This comes despite a robust local economy that is showing impressive employment and income growth,” said senior market analyst Richard Goatcher.

“The home building industry has been impacted by a slowdown in net migration into the province since mid-2007 and concerns locally about elevated new and existing home inventories.”

; G0 H: }& C9 r3 m' D( M; BSingle-detached starts in the Edmonton census metropolitan area fell 52 per cent year-over-year to 224 units in November.
0 V) U% e4 {) O& B9 r2 i2 U2 x
( @0 D7 y* H! hMultiple-dwelling starts fell off even harder, by 91 per cent from November 2007 to 55 units.
) u- Q9 P2 k8 N( u& Q$ V0 z
“The high volume of units still in progress suggests that further reductions are warranted in the coming year,” the CMHC said in a release.

: z) H8 `4 g) L( ~$ @' B9 {Across Alberta, total housing starts in the seven largest cities dropped by 49 per cent year-over-year despite increased building in Wood Buffalo and Lethbridge.