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.

- q& `/ f6 v! z; e% i% Y$ n. RConstruction began on only 279 homes during the month, according to preliminary figures released today.
3 b! I0 i$ p9 \
2 U6 g+ M! h3 H) Y+ {8 Y$ h  rFor the year to date, housing activity has fallen by 56 per cent compared to the first 11 months last year.
5 C" c5 U& A* ?5 _: Q+ E2 y/ U) {( ^8 c
“This comes despite a robust local economy that is showing impressive employment and income growth,” said senior market analyst Richard Goatcher.
5 B0 ]6 X- b+ i2 x8 Z" e+ S( V
8 h- Y! y9 M9 l" h0 {3 F“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.”
/ F1 k: `3 w* [
Single-detached starts in the Edmonton census metropolitan area fell 52 per cent year-over-year to 224 units in November.
' k2 n' ~) z% c% e) D
+ Y0 D# @6 L& S; {4 LMultiple-dwelling starts fell off even harder, by 91 per cent from November 2007 to 55 units.
- u9 N1 E$ R, B& p' Z. \5 Y
“The high volume of units still in progress suggests that further reductions are warranted in the coming year,” the CMHC said in a release.
4 i1 |% m7 [8 _- b! p) Q
& e8 Z9 E3 ^2 a) iAcross 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.