Jan 11, 2011, Calgary region housing starts soar by 47% in 2010

Housing starts in the Calgary census metropolitan area were up 47 per cent in 2010 from the previous year despite a recent slowdown in the homebuilding industry.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. reported Tuesday that total starts finished the year at 9,262 units, up from 6,318 in 2009.

In the region, single-detached starts hit 5,782 units, an increase of 21.1 per cent from 4,775 while the multiple-family sector rose by 125.5 per cent to 3,480 units from 1,543 in 2009.

Richard Cho, senior market analyst in Calgary for the CMHC, said that since the summer builders have started fewer homes in response to higher competition from the resale market and slower new home sales.

That was reflected again in the December numbers as single-detached starts were down 40.4 per cent during the month compared with last year – the fifth consecutive month of year-over-year declines in that sector.

However, in December, multi-family starts increased by 56.1 per cent from December 2009 to 153 units from 98 a year ago.

Nationally, Canadian housing starts fell a worse-than-expected 13.5 per cent to 171,500 annualized units in December, from 198,200 in the prior month.

“While steeper than expected, the drop is not shocking given a trio of factors: yesterday’s building permits report showed a notable drop in November residential permits; there was bound to be some payback from a massive bounce in Toronto multi-unit starts in the prior month; and, lastly, parts of Ontario were buried in snow for a good part of December,” said Robert Kavcic, an economist with BMO Capital Markets, in a research note.

By Mario Toneguzzi, Calgary Herald