Edmonton housing starts fall almost 75 per cent

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EDMONTON — The number of housing starts in the Edmonton region for November tumbled 74 per cent from the same time last year, said the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

: y8 _0 ^# s, q6 y; A9 ^: q4 k0 z6 QConstruction began on only 279 homes during the month, according to preliminary figures released today.

! z7 A' u5 r+ C% k  u5 hFor the year to date, housing activity has fallen by 56 per cent compared to the first 11 months last year.
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+ X) l8 J- M6 {9 d2 o“This comes despite a robust local economy that is showing impressive employment and income growth,” said senior market analyst Richard Goatcher.
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“The home building industry has been impacted by a slowdown in net migration into the province since mid-2007 and concerns locally about elevated new and existing home inventories.”
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$ }  p7 y0 k' cSingle-detached starts in the Edmonton census metropolitan area fell 52 per cent year-over-year to 224 units in November.
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1 z% l6 c  C  e; QMultiple-dwelling starts fell off even harder, by 91 per cent from November 2007 to 55 units.
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; `4 T1 j5 P; Z5 z( d% h“The high volume of units still in progress suggests that further reductions are warranted in the coming year,” the CMHC said in a release.

$ m, g! F4 @! m1 w! Q6 TAcross Alberta, total housing starts in the seven largest cities dropped by 49 per cent year-over-year despite increased building in Wood Buffalo and Lethbridge.