Edmonton housing starts dip again

vista

Edmonton housing starts dip again

6 j! N; A( {% V; \1 a. h% E
By Bill Mah, edmontonjournal.comMarch 9, 2009 11:02 AMComments (2)
  StoryPhotos ( 2 )

5 Q/ T1 m; |/ \% f% q 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.

9 I; b' w! C8 _# o) T- f. FMultiple-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.
4 W2 X2 J7 L* l! s" V: d" O
. E, M& K& y- R' z) 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.
) B' n& k8 q0 D) Y
/ R# |+ Z+ g! X9 @! uIn 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.

) H: z% j8 T( Z7 B! G4 ]8 HCMHC 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.
% t/ o- Y% P6 i0 |
% f+ Z" A# ^  R! ^; sTotal 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.
, h2 G# I' e( z3 n2 ]
bmah@thejournal.canwest.com

icing

yingxiy