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.

& E/ ]( U( o# i' C( O) x3 }Construction began on only 279 homes during the month, according to preliminary figures released today.

6 F0 F: o' H5 P* ^6 OFor the year to date, housing activity has fallen by 56 per cent compared to the first 11 months last year.

/ r4 j8 d: o9 P/ N9 i% p0 F7 E“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.”

Single-detached starts in the Edmonton census metropolitan area fell 52 per cent year-over-year to 224 units in November.

" b4 v2 w: ^9 p1 u0 X- l3 N$ WMultiple-dwelling starts fell off even harder, by 91 per cent from November 2007 to 55 units.
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" y' N) _/ U1 @7 h  R“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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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.