Edmonton housing starts dip again

vista

Edmonton housing starts dip again
- Z; H" c2 a2 K1 T/ C
. g, F3 j* y* ?) @* s' K0 ~
By Bill Mah, edmontonjournal.comMarch 9, 2009 11:02 AMComments (2)
  u0 t1 G) ^9 J$ c  StoryPhotos ( 2 )
8 w2 ?7 p1 y" B) W
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.
0 T2 w4 i: U. I: o. @3 z4 }) D- P
* @$ m, j7 P: X) E4 r* pMultiple-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.
$ @; i, E3 v) T0 C
“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.
/ M# d5 x, R/ ~; t
% Q/ j2 K! C! _) m9 l# N7 VIn 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.

, W0 w5 o$ A- gCMHC 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.

# s8 Q5 h2 T: V, F4 D. ]Total 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.

bmah@thejournal.canwest.com

icing

yingxiy