New Construction Up 40% in Edmonton

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APARTMENTS BOOST HOUSING STARTS IN SEPTEMBER

  N( d& B0 Y* m1 I6 x% WEdmonton, October 9, 2007 – A surge in apartment starts across Greater Edmonton helped counter a
continued slowdown in new single-detached activity during September. According to preliminary figures released
+ Z! n2 \) v+ htoday by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), housing starts within the Edmonton Census
Metropolitan Area (CMA) increased by 40.3 per cent from September 2006 to 1,978 units. So far this year, total
housing starts have increased by 5.7 per cent over the numbers reported after three quarters of 2006.
Following a 37 per cent year-over-year increase in August, multiple dwelling starts in September jumped by 150 per
cent over the same month last year to 1,306 units. The majority of September’s new multiples were condominium
apartments located in Edmonton, Spruce Grove, Strathcona County and Beaumont. For the year-to-date, multiple
unit starts across Metro have increased by one third over activity levels reported in the first nine months of 2006.
“Multi-unit builders in the CMA are poised to exceed 6,000 units for the first time since 1982,” noted Richard
Goatcher, CMHC’s Senior Market Analyst for Edmonton.

For the third month in a row, single-detached starts in September fell below last year’s record-setting pace. Builders
poured foundations for 672 units, representing a 24 per cent decline from September 2006. Single starts dropped by
1 w* f* U$ I: L9 d4 T& J1 \- s18.5 per cent in the third quarter compared with the number of units started in July through September of 2006.
“Although single starts for the year-to-date are off by 11 per cent compared with 2006, the single-detached house
3 K% G/ y1 c9 i5 @building industry is still expected to achieve the second best year on record,” added Goatcher.
Total housing starts in Alberta’s seven largest cities increased year-over-year in September by 33 per cent to 4,134
) G/ M6 k7 S  @" ~4 m' l2 Eunits. A major upswing in multiple dwelling units compensated for a combined 23 per cent pull-back in singledetached
starts. Six of the seven cities reported gains over September of last year, with only Medicine Hat
reporting a decline in total housing starts.

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