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.
; C7 H! v  I" H9 h  [5 G5 ^7 J
/ c! Z$ k5 J% i) Q% r3 rConstruction began on only 279 homes during the month, according to preliminary figures released today.
! q# ?( C. Z) I+ ]
For the year to date, housing activity has fallen by 56 per cent compared to the first 11 months last year.

5 F" D- ]  C; b) d/ C" X3 B: f! e9 M. e2 V, Y“This comes despite a robust local economy that is showing impressive employment and income growth,” said senior market analyst Richard Goatcher.

“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.
+ L2 ?( G6 E# K( Q) \
1 w* k' X5 ?5 t1 w- L8 RMultiple-dwelling starts fell off even harder, by 91 per cent from November 2007 to 55 units.
; i) o& H5 b2 c# x1 @" r
! H5 I6 r& h- M, |6 ?+ Q“The high volume of units still in progress suggests that further reductions are warranted in the coming year,” the CMHC said in a release.
% B! Y. ~* F, S9 ?
$ P  \6 ?8 c2 [2 A7 H$ F# I6 TAcross 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.