Edmonton housing starts dip again

vista

Edmonton housing starts dip again
& J) z' Z; ?& E
+ f! s" x/ b3 Q& x% X. V
# V4 A$ H- ?) w+ _8 z8 s! JBy Bill Mah, edmontonjournal.comMarch 9, 2009 11:02 AMComments (2)
  StoryPhotos ( 2 )
/ q. X4 p( ]& X
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.
# p! J2 |+ g5 _7 E  q7 H6 {
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.
4 w- R6 e( N" N4 H2 _
“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.

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.
, c" r( S. T4 b. `* x
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.

, [1 q9 n& \- x# j5 W3 I# \5 c3 z) }/ hTotal 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.
6 G5 ^+ }# z- v
bmah@thejournal.canwest.com

icing

yingxiy