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.

9 U7 S$ w. r# t& O. d4 U, [# WConstruction began on only 279 homes during the month, according to preliminary figures released today.

7 |) V  e2 p* w' a2 P" U- X. qFor the year to date, housing activity has fallen by 56 per cent compared to the first 11 months last year.
  D' {8 R8 W4 k/ p
7 _5 j8 |( [: i/ Q- o  j“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.”
3 ]- N* z' P; o+ K! l* `
! W" E/ @$ v. n' j! A  XSingle-detached starts in the Edmonton census metropolitan area fell 52 per cent year-over-year to 224 units in November.

Multiple-dwelling starts fell off even harder, by 91 per cent from November 2007 to 55 units.
# Y8 k; n$ |7 A" U" F
“The high volume of units still in progress suggests that further reductions are warranted in the coming year,” the CMHC said in a release.
9 z! s( W: p6 I3 |: u  o7 U* @
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.