Edmonton home builders still hammering away

by Sara MacLennan on July 10, 201210. Jul, 2012 in Alberta's Economy, Edmonton Real Estate Market

According to a press release by CMHC, housing starts in the greater Edmonton area increased in June to 1,050 units, up from 719 starts in June 2011. For the year-to-date, housing starts totalled 5,468 units, up from 4,051 during the first six months of 2011.

“Strong economic conditions, including higher levels of migration and employment, coupled with declining new home inventory, have prompted builders to increase production in 2012,” said Christina Butchart, CMHC’s Senior Market Analyst for Edmonton.

Highlights from the press release:

  • Single detached housing starts increased 18% in June to 522 units from 443 last June for the greater Edmonton area
  • Within the city the number of single detached starts was basically unchanged from last year at 258
  • So far this year single detached starts are up 17% over the first half of last year
  • Multi-family starts are up significantly from last year - 528 units were started compared to 276 last June, 89% of those were within the Edmonton city limits
  • Halfway into 2012, multi-family housing starts reached 2,873 units in the Edmonton CMA, compared to 1,825 units started in the first six months of 2011.

As we reported last month, inventory of new homes and condos was actually dropping, even though construction activity has increased. There is obviously demand for new homes in Edmonton and builders must be fairly optimistic with job and migration numbers on the rise.

About

Sara MacLennan is the Director of Marketing at Liv Real Estate and a licensed Real Estate Associate. The bulk of Sara’s experience and wealth of expertise lies in on-line technology and marketing both for agents and consumers. Sara is the former National Director for Interactive Marketing for Coldwell Banker Canada where she was responsible for an extensive training program traveling to offices across the country training agents and brokers on marketing and technology. Find Sara on Twitter @edmontonblogger.

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