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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  p  C4 A2 a" T1 c6 {& s# o0 KConstruction began on only 279 homes during the month, according to preliminary figures released today.
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7 [) v- w/ e1 b$ B( \6 a, O2 zFor the year to date, housing activity has fallen by 56 per cent compared to the first 11 months last year.

+ L: |! f' e% b* Q% g“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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: t" d; k% T  O2 d7 w6 s“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.”
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8 B7 ?& i2 g/ x% w. N0 o! aSingle-detached starts in the Edmonton census metropolitan area fell 52 per cent year-over-year to 224 units in November.

7 J4 N% n# |3 i* B, S3 F7 FMultiple-dwelling starts fell off even harder, by 91 per cent from November 2007 to 55 units.
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“The high volume of units still in progress suggests that further reductions are warranted in the coming year,” the CMHC said in a release.
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* Y' e, b2 |+ k, c$ l* }6 V( IAcross 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.