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.
6 p, F8 ^, ]$ {
# c4 V  s9 _  l% t& P. S& oConstruction began on only 279 homes during the month, according to preliminary figures released today.
2 ^* w2 ?) J$ b/ [: F2 P( A
For the year to date, housing activity has fallen by 56 per cent compared to the first 11 months last year.
. t  K$ Y# h0 V& i
“This comes despite a robust local economy that is showing impressive employment and income growth,” said senior market analyst Richard Goatcher.
1 n7 }6 ^6 V! v! H  j% ^, v
3 p! K9 X! y) R“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.”

Single-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.
$ C9 H& [- X$ Q0 k
“The high volume of units still in progress suggests that further reductions are warranted in the coming year,” the CMHC said in a release.

5 W2 G* w7 @  _" |* LAcross 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.