Edmonton housing starts dip again

vista

Edmonton housing starts dip again
/ A( |6 Y% f# ^- N; F
, m3 G7 P/ s; J; Z5 l$ N. J
By Bill Mah, edmontonjournal.comMarch 9, 2009 11:02 AMComments (2)
  StoryPhotos ( 2 )
3 p0 X9 W. s; {7 M/ z
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.

Multiple-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.

“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.
2 ~7 ?+ p2 J3 x
8 \# C- @  y, _6 C9 @7 p! f( @& }7 ~+ pIn 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.

6 j9 n4 W* u; Y  u6 r: gCMHC 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.

% X5 `2 I$ l8 |; V: ], UTotal 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.
. k) e- ]' c2 ?5 M- A  N, Z
: l+ I% G$ ~: K3 {! nbmah@thejournal.canwest.com

icing

yingxiy