Edmonton housing starts dip again

vista

Edmonton housing starts dip again


  }5 p' p0 ]# L8 J3 @5 |By Bill Mah, edmontonjournal.comMarch 9, 2009 11:02 AMComments (2)
  StoryPhotos ( 2 )
' o5 r# V3 D4 w4 w" n0 x
8 X! T7 _4 Y/ ^# H3 P0 H 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 c& B" y6 L/ e$ Z
5 W* [7 @$ [) K) z3 ]: DMultiple-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.
) _' S& b7 T+ c
2 W2 A+ R4 \: y" n“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.
' f6 r6 S- W& j/ u/ K( S: n
% d: E: L7 u5 c) u1 r8 DIn 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.
. e7 C' |9 Y- e, k+ k: G
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 Q3 F) g5 t/ p# L* \& M. d: {
4 U% m, H9 U+ U5 H; G9 s- S+ p5 HTotal 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.
" i0 l: W; m/ v
1 D( q/ F4 j1 ^bmah@thejournal.canwest.com

icing

yingxiy