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Edmonton housing starts dip again
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c0 u' Y8 n' E' z- A: a2 \5 rBy Bill Mah, edmontonjournal.comMarch 9, 2009 11:02 AMComments (2)
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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.
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Multiple-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.3 _4 n6 I) I. _4 }5 U/ ?4 f
* s) T- h+ W5 e6 M“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.
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In 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.
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3 z2 k2 Q5 Z8 S2 ?! h3 A2 xCMHC 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.
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G9 O. }6 ?, {4 X3 A# eTotal 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.8 P. o# [ n# m. K5 ]: g
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bmah@thejournal.canwest.com |
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