Edmonton housing starts fall almost 75 per cent

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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.

2 n6 @8 U# u8 t3 I0 JConstruction began on only 279 homes during the month, according to preliminary figures released today.

+ z  y0 ]* b7 s$ ]+ Q0 E$ ~5 g  n# tFor the year to date, housing activity has fallen by 56 per cent compared to the first 11 months last year.

* }1 E, I: Z; |$ r6 B( y: v“This comes despite a robust local economy that is showing impressive employment and income growth,” said senior market analyst Richard Goatcher.

9 B% Q% |# ?/ S! F( U“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.”

+ F' P+ P6 f6 W1 @$ U" d' WSingle-detached starts in the Edmonton census metropolitan area fell 52 per cent year-over-year to 224 units in November.
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Multiple-dwelling starts fell off even harder, by 91 per cent from November 2007 to 55 units.

! u3 i, }& w/ ^* i“The high volume of units still in progress suggests that further reductions are warranted in the coming year,” the CMHC said in a release.
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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.