Edmonton housing starts dip again

vista

Edmonton housing starts dip again

* D" B8 S2 M1 f# w$ r
By Bill Mah, edmontonjournal.comMarch 9, 2009 11:02 AMComments (2)
: v, g1 }' u/ k, K  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.

: g) F7 u6 e" b8 W  r7 K% f/ jMultiple-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.

5 v2 g( X( ]& a9 Y“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.

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.
% r9 D/ X3 h' N0 P% p! U9 Q
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.

3 ~; d& B# Y; jTotal 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.

; v! j: }& n+ S5 d5 Nbmah@thejournal.canwest.com

icing

yingxiy