 鲜花( 1)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
EDMONTON – Housing starts fell again in the Edmonton region for February with no growth in activity foreseen until at least the summer, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation said Monday.% O, H) I2 x& T7 \
1 L3 {# T# p$ ~% QMultiple-unit starts led the decline with a near-86-per-cent drop from February of last year, according to preliminary CMHC figures. Multi-unit starts across the Capital Region totalled 64 units last month compared to 449 started in the same month a year ago.8 F7 }$ T' c# h6 _. p
) B+ E+ R \( h* K$ X1 C“Developer unease over rising condo apartment inventories will cause multi-unit starts to be lower this year than last,” said Richard Goatcher, CMHC senior market analyst for Edmonton.& ]- D$ O7 O7 H9 y# W+ r
, ^4 w- N6 M0 `/ s8 |5 y
In the single-detached market, shovels went into the ground for 149 homes in February — a 39 per cent drop from the 243 units started a year ago.
# j4 H2 ?& ^$ k+ [3 U2 r( v2 T4 t2 Z+ |( K
CMHC predicts single starts to remain slow throughout much of 2009. Building activity won’t pick up over the previous year’s pace until after mid-2009 — provided new house inventories head lower. Goatcher said it will likely take until 2010 for notable year-over-year increases in single starts.6 V8 j1 ]& R" Y* R( O' z
9 e1 `" X( b) e5 R9 c9 Q
Total housing starts in Alberta’s seven largest centres totalled 574 units in February, down from 1,867 a year ago, according to CMHC. Grande Prairie was the only city reporting a year-over-year increase in starts. |
|