Edmonton housing starts fall almost 75 per cent

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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.
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! C) s- a2 B- f# c/ X* J- gConstruction began on only 279 homes during the month, according to preliminary figures released today.

1 T/ a( p! G& s4 R! v0 cFor the year to date, housing activity has fallen by 56 per cent compared to the first 11 months last year.
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3 b4 w' B6 l( c4 h/ s/ E5 C“This comes despite a robust local economy that is showing impressive employment and income growth,” said senior market analyst Richard Goatcher.
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“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.”

6 W% V$ X; h1 p$ F' k( R) bSingle-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.
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4 c3 E( y9 c! 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.

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.