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New housing starts down by a third over last year
* |( |3 j: c2 {) N1 m9 VMario Toneguzzi, Calgary Herald
5 F! ]3 J% D3 G! Y* ^, c# CPublished: Thursday, March 08, 20075 }+ e: U u3 N+ n& k T# M0 [
The red-hot, record pace set by Calgary home builders last year is showing signs of slowing down.
0 d8 M. Y/ P* Z' JAccording to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, total housing starts across the Calgary Census Metropolitan Area declined in February by 32.7 per cent compared to February 2006. The decline was registered most dramatically in the single-family home sector where starts plunged by 35.9 per cent compared to last year.$ G8 E- _; w' {6 Q
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Lai Sing Louie, senior market analyst for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation in Calgary, said there has been a weakening in housing starts in the Calgary Census Metropolitan Area in February.
* X2 B( g: Z" i9 L* I! i2 |“It’s something we expected. We didn’t think that housing starts in 2007 would exceed the 2006 record volumes. There was so much going on,” said Louie. “We thought it would pull back. It’s pulled back a little bit more than we thought.”
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6 G9 ^3 j% w$ N# oThe Calgary CMA encompasses the city, Airdrie, the Municipal District of Rocky View, Chestermere, Cochrane, Irricana, Beiseker and Crossfield.
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* [7 I+ W, ~4 OTotal housing starts in Calgary dropped from 1,088 in February 2006 to 732 this February. Single-family starts dropped from 859 last year to 551 this year in February while multiple starts, which include semi-detached units, rows and apartments, fell from 229 to 181, a drop of 21 per cent.
6 y+ }) r; O# A8 D l L6 FIn the first two months of this year, total housing starts are down 29.5 per cent from last year. Single-detached starts are down 31.9 per cent and multiple starts are down 21.2 per cent.
8 F2 z c: q9 D$ C* M1 BThe CMHC said housing starts across the seven largest urban areas in Alberta decreased from 2,856 units in February 2006 to 2,338 units in 2007, representing a drop of about 18 per cent.% C) q2 r' O. ~0 x' G4 {
Nationally, urban starts in February totalled 9,436 units, a decrease of about 24 per cent from the previous year. |
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