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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) _% Q1 J1 q1 P) E. d: R& m' GConstruction began on only 279 homes during the month, according to preliminary figures released today.

3 }1 Y5 V9 t+ R  N+ Z' i% GFor the year to date, housing activity has fallen by 56 per cent compared to the first 11 months last year.

“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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) w& K6 I5 L3 g+ S  j4 I2 e/ b“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.”

- [4 D  |: i8 W- K. i( n) TSingle-detached starts in the Edmonton census metropolitan area fell 52 per cent year-over-year to 224 units in November.

) P& j' o& e! {1 O- c& fMultiple-dwelling starts fell off even harder, by 91 per cent from November 2007 to 55 units.
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4 ^3 ~, w# }; R+ N“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.