Edmonton housing starts dip again

vista

Edmonton housing starts dip again
1 y+ s/ [2 f2 |8 c
1 W0 q" b$ S( P# k+ N6 x( f2 `0 K6 n
9 x1 I0 ]4 d, NBy Bill Mah, edmontonjournal.comMarch 9, 2009 11:02 AMComments (2)
) m& O( l2 X. ]  StoryPhotos ( 2 )

More Images »  A for sale sign is posted in front of a new homes in the Sunset Valley Estates on Ellerslie Road in Edmonton.Photograph by: Anne-Marie Jackson, Edmonton JournalEDMONTON – 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.
( v0 f8 o6 B! U6 o8 U4 w6 R8 f. [
$ ?) d) T# L; u, @! CMultiple-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.

/ F  ]: |8 Q2 ?“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.
, e# T; v: @8 G  L+ m
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.
4 C' A8 ?0 M; o5 g. f
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.
7 s, W6 b' [- I4 F8 Z* L6 l
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.

, ~; c- ?+ C0 V# Obmah@thejournal.canwest.com

icing

yingxiy