Edmonton housing starts dip again

vista

Edmonton housing starts dip again


By Bill Mah, edmontonjournal.comMarch 9, 2009 11:02 AMComments (2)
8 k; [9 C* D% f1 ]  StoryPhotos ( 2 )
0 D1 S; d5 }# G: A
More Images »  A for sale sign is posted in front of a new homes in the Sunset Valley Estates on Ellerslie Road in Edmonton.Photograph by: Anne-Marie Jackson, Edmonton JournalEDMONTON – Housing starts fell again in the Edmonton region for February with no growth in activity foreseen until at least the summer, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation said Monday.
/ M' i) r  @: j3 }' K, Y, ?
- f6 G5 W5 m! [; z2 k) K7 n. HMultiple-unit starts led the decline with a near-86-per-cent drop from February of last year, according to preliminary CMHC figures. Multi-unit starts across the Capital Region totalled 64 units last month compared to 449 started in the same month a year ago.

“Developer unease over rising condo apartment inventories will cause multi-unit starts to be lower this year than last,” said Richard Goatcher, CMHC senior market analyst for Edmonton.

# I- y4 o6 O" M* t& l( k! wIn the single-detached market, shovels went into the ground for 149 homes in February — a 39 per cent drop from the 243 units started a year ago.

( O, B2 G  A4 @CMHC predicts single starts to remain slow throughout much of 2009. Building activity won’t pick up over the previous year’s pace until after mid-2009 — provided new house inventories head lower. Goatcher said it will likely take until 2010 for notable year-over-year increases in single starts.
5 C, x4 o+ ?7 q, b9 |
; b1 M/ ~5 M6 k" a2 y4 P4 NTotal housing starts in Alberta’s seven largest centres totalled 574 units in February, down from 1,867 a year ago, according to CMHC. Grande Prairie was the only city reporting a year-over-year increase in starts.
# n% X7 G6 O  `
bmah@thejournal.canwest.com

icing

yingxiy