Edmonton Housing Starts Still Slow

by Sheldon Johnston and Sara MacLennan on 30. Apr, 2009 in Edmonton Real Estate Market, Investing in Alberta Real Estate, Tips for Home Buyers

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation released their "Housing Now" press release today that talks about housing starts and the overall economic climate in Edmonton today. Most of the stuff in the report is stuff that we've already talked about here, but it is an interesting read – you can view it here: http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/odpub/esub/64171/64171_2009_M04.pdf

A few of the highlights:

  • Total starts in March were 135, down from 478 last March and over 1100 the year before

  • For the first quarter there were 761 starts compared to 2315 in '08

  • Single family starts dropped 49% in March from 205 in '08 to 105

  • There are 1817 homes under construction which is down 63% from last year and the lowest level since June 2001

  • Single detached completions dropped 64% to 196 units

  • The inventory of completed, unoccupied single family homes is 925, up 2.5% from the same time last year but below the peak of 1,090 in August '08

  • Multiple starts have reached 360 units so far this year compared with 1,658 last year.

  • Multiple unit completions totalled 199 units in March compared with 536 units in March of last year.

  • Unabsorbed inventory dropped from February levels but it was still more than double the end of March last year (unfortunately they didn't indicate the exact number).

What I really wanted to know was how many multi-family completions are expected in the coming months but it wasn't mentioned in the report.

The report also discusses resale stats, the labour market and inter-provincial migration.

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3 Responses to “Edmonton Housing Starts Still Slow”

  1. finnkc 30. Apr, 2009 at 1:14 pm #

    “What I really wanted to know was how many multi-family completions are expected in the coming months but it wasn’t mentioned in the report.”

    Yea me too.

    Thanks for the link tho. :)

  2. Nate 30. Apr, 2009 at 2:03 pm #

    A lot of builders are throwing up spec homes on the last of the lots that they had already purchased and basically closing up shop.

    Spoke with one of the reps at a Calgary based builder in summerside and their builder has 2 lots left and aren’t planning on buying anymore in that community.

  3. Edmonton Expat 30. Apr, 2009 at 2:49 pm #

    Hopefully the city of Edmonton will “control” itself and stop issuing new permits for a few months…
    That way the inventory can go down.

    BTW what’s happening to some builders’ huge shops off Henday?