Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. reports new home starts in August increased on a national basis, year over year and reached a 17-year high, led by Toronto and Vancouver.
The reverse was true in Alberta and the Calgary census metropolitan area (CMA) with decreases of 33 percent and 30 percent, respectively.
Starts across the province last month were 1,753 homes, compared to 2,608 homes in August 2019.
In Calgary, total starts for the month were 736, down from 1,051 in August last year. Total starts in the CMA this year to date are 5,426 homes, compared to 6,442 starts to the end of August 2019. Last month’s figure puts builders on trend to start 8,344 homes in 2020, the lowest since the great recession of 2008/2009.
Year-over-year August starts by home type:
Aug. 2019 | Aug. 2020 | |
Single-family | 337 | 211 |
Semi-detached | 78 | 124 |
Row | 119 | 199 |
Apartment | 471 | 248 |
Under construction | Inventory | |
Single-family | 1,711 | 546 |
Semi-detached | 552 | 303 |
Row | 1,265 | 407 |
Apartment | 6,851 | 862 |
Total | 10,379 | 2,118 |
Copyright Postmedia Network Inc., 2020