Edmonton housing starts fall almost 75 per cent

vista

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.

. z* b7 ?9 M" P$ C% c" yConstruction began on only 279 homes during the month, according to preliminary figures released today.
# S4 a% _- H- Z1 \& Z
; _) r$ D" s! {' V; q1 eFor the year to date, housing activity has fallen by 56 per cent compared to the first 11 months last year.

- j9 y% P, s% V& Q3 c“This comes despite a robust local economy that is showing impressive employment and income growth,” said senior market analyst Richard Goatcher.

- e' U  o5 `5 }$ l“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.”
0 c  `8 p8 @* \+ J
Single-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.

5 Q: ^- _/ w) Z2 D5 K2 c. X“The high volume of units still in progress suggests that further reductions are warranted in the coming year,” the CMHC said in a release.
) ^' B3 V% J( \# q4 u. @
3 R1 ~8 l. n5 h8 J: t- |5 v' W- b) `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.