As we've been reporting for well over a year, new home construction in Edmonton is still slow. A report released by Canada Mortgage and Housing (CMHC) today shows this year is even slower than last year:
- Total housing starts in the greater Edmonton area in February were 213, down from 692 last year and 1106 in 2007.
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So far this year new starts totalled 626, down from 1837 in the first 2 months of last year and 2204 in 2007.
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There were 149 single family home starts, compared to 243 last year and 576 in '07
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There were 64 multi-family starts in February, compared to 449 last year and 530 in '07
From the report:
CMHC expects single starts to remain slow throughout much of 2009. Year-over-year increases in monthly activity are not anticipated until after mid-year, provided new house inventories head lower. “Notable year-over-year increases in single-detached starts will not occur until 2010,” noted Richard Goatcher, CMHC’s Senior Market Analyst based in Edmonton.
“Developer unease over rising condo apartment inventories will cause multi-unit starts to be lower this year than last,” said Goatcher. “Provided the necessary adjustment is made this year, a gain in multi-family starts should occur in 2010,” he added.
